That’s the gist of what Chatham House is saying. And yes Germany is being weakened. On every front.
Scholz will bow to pressure (Bullying) to send tanks to Ukraine
Germany finds itself alone on the issue. ( Of course it does since it’s the prey) Finland and Poland are both seeking a green light from Berlin to send their Leopards to Ukraine while other NATO countries with stocks of the German tank are ready to follow if the German government lifts its veto and grants export licences.
In addition, the US has made it clear to Berlin that it should make Leopards available to Ukraine even if it will not send its own Abrams tanks at the same time, as Scholz insisted. The chancellor’s intransigence on the issue has caused serious irritation in Washington.
On his second day as defence minister, Boris Pistorius commissioned an audit of the Leopard stocks held by German armed forces ahead of a possible decision to make the tank available to Ukraine. And he also announced Germany’s partners were free to start training Ukrainian forces on the tank.
By delaying a decision on the Leopards, Scholz appears to be putting domestic politics before Europe’s security in an attempt to preserve the support of the pacifist wing on the left of the SPD.
For this constituency, he is arguing Germany must be careful not to provoke a wider war between Russia and NATO, risking a nuclear exchange.But a pattern has emerged over the past year in Berlin’s response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. When under pressure (bullied) from Germany’s allies, as well as his coalition partners and the opposition CDU/CSU, Scholz gives ground.
The decision to suspend the Nord Stream 2 project in the run up to the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion was followed by the softening of positions on deliveries of howitzers and infantry fighting vehicles, and on a Patriot air defence system.
The author of this piece comes from a very specific point of view as he is the author of “Germany’s Russia Problem”