Swiss commission recommends selling 25 tanks back to Germany

Under its neutrality laws and a separate arms embargo, Switzerland is prohibited from sending weapons directly to Ukraine © Keystone / Peter Schneider

Ninety-six Leopard tanks are sitting mothballed in a hall in eastern Switzerland. The security commission of the House of Representatives has voted to decommission 25 of them, thereby enabling their sale back to their German manufacturer.

Switzerland would thus be providing indirect military support to Ukraine for the first time, said commission member Maja Riniker after the vote on Tuesday evening.

+ Switzerland’s policy of not supplying arms to conflict zones

Switzerland no longer needs these tanks, she added. “If we can help Ukraine indirectly in this way, I believe we also have a responsibility here to make our contribution to the security architecture of Europe,” Riniker told Swiss public television, SRFExternal link.

The commission wrote in a statementExternal link it was thus acknowledging “that the security situation in Europe has further deteriorated with Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine”.

Twenty-five of the 96 decommissioned Leopard tanks are to be taken out of service – the prerequisite for exporting them.

However, the commission also proposed, by ten votes to nine with six abstentions, that the tanks could only be taken out of service if they were resold to the manufacturer. They would therefore be exported to Germany. In turn, Berlin would be able to fill the gaps in its army that were created by supporting Ukraine with German tanks.

The majority of the commission emphasised that the decommissioning and subsequent sale of these tanks would not result in any disadvantages for Switzerland with regard to the full equipment of the mechanised units, training and spare parts.

‘Flogged off’

Opposition came from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party. “Switzerland hasn’t got an up-to-date defence strategy,” complained David Zuberbühler. “We don’t know what the army of tomorrow will look like. Therefore, the tanks shouldn’t be flogged off abroad.”

Although the decision was clear in the commission on Tuesday (17 votes to seven with one abstention), before the 25 Leopard tanks can be taken out of service, parliament has to agree.

Under its neutrality laws and a separate arms embargo, Switzerland is prohibited from sending weapons directly to Ukraine. Bern has previously blocked requests from Germany, Spain and Denmark to allow Swiss-made munitions and military equipment they have previously bought to be re-exported to Ukraine.

However, the Swiss public and politicians are increasingly divided on the issue, as calls from European neighbours for Switzerland to allow exports grow louder and Russia intensifies its assault on Ukraine.