These countries in turn would supply Ukraine with weapons from their old stockpiles. This had the advantage of allowing Germany to sidestep the contentious issue of directly supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons while showing solidarity with it. The exchange of rings is also supposed to contribute to the military modernization of NATO members, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. More than six months after the idea of exchanging rings was announced, things have been rather quiet. At first, the idea didn’t work. later, it only worked in a few cases, and the process was generally not smooth. Poland, for example, flatly rejected a ring exchange and took months to agree on the details with Greece. But now, several successful ring exchanges have taken place and others are being completed. It was German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht who came up with the idea of a ring exchangeImage: Thomas Frey/dpa/image alliance Time to evaluate. Does ring exchange help Ukraine? How does it benefit participating NATO members? Does the idea still have a future? And: does it reinforce the image of Germany as a country that, despite being the leading economic power in Europe, fails to take a leading role in supporting Ukraine? DW posed these questions to government representatives from countries participating in right-wing exchanges as well as independent experts.
Poland: Unattractive offer
Poland is one of the main supporters of the Ukrainian military. Ukraine has received more than 250 older Soviet-era tanks from its neighbor, which have left a significant gap in Polish stocks. An exchange of rings with Germany would be one way to bridge this gap, but so far this has not materialised. The Polish Ministry of Defense told DW that there are currently no talks with Germany about this either. The Leopard 2 A4 main battle tank, seen here during a Canadian Army training exerciseImage: Courtesy Canadian Armed Forces/REUTERS Germany had originally offered to supply Poland with 20 Leopard 2A4 tanks, but they would only be fully operational a year after the offer was made. In addition, Germany was ready to hand over 100 old Leopard 1A5 tanks or used Marder infantry fighting vehicles. “The Polish government was not satisfied with this offer,” says Justyna Gotkowska, a security expert at the OWS Center for Eastern Studies in Warsaw. “First of all, Poland wanted a whole battalion, so at least 44 tanks. Second, it wanted tanks of a new generation. The Polish army is in a phase of accelerated modernization and sees no point in investing in old equipment.”
Germany is acting below its potential
Poland is currently buying hundreds of state-of-the-art Abrams tanks from the United States. In addition, in July 2022 the Polish Ministry of Defense signed an agreement with South Korea for the purchase of 180 modern K2 tanks. “When it comes to tanks, Germany has taken a back seat as a partner for military technical cooperation,” says Gotkowska. Big policy issues also contributed to the failure of the exchange of rings: “Warsaw considers Berlin’s policy of military support for Ukraine to be far from sufficient, commensurate with Germany’s capabilities,” explains Gotkowska. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is reluctant to supply arms directly to Ukraine Picture: Markus Schreiber/AP Photo/picture alliance
The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia are satisfied
The Czech Republic, Slovakia and to a lesser extent Slovenia are among the most active military supporters of Ukraine within the European Union. Slovakia delivered an air defense system directly to Kyiv as early as spring 2022 and received a Patriot defense system from Germany and the Netherlands in return. In the summer, it then sent 30 tanks to its eastern neighbor. The Czech Republic delivered 40 more. In return, Bratislava is getting 15 Leopard tanks from Germany, while Prague will receive 14. For its part, Slovenia delivered 28 tanks to Ukraine at the end of October, for which Germany is supplying it with 43 military transport vehicles. “In the Czech Republic, exchanging rings with Germany is generally seen as positive and beneficial,” Jiri Pehe, a Czech political scientist, tells DW. “It helps the Czech Republic significantly modernize its military.” Grigorij Meseznikov, a political scientist from the Institute of Public Affairs (IVO) in Bratislava, says the situation is similar for Slovakia: “We are getting new and modern weapons from Germany in exchange for old air defense systems and tanks.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses members of the German Bundestag on March 17, 2022 Picture: Tobias Schwarz/AFP
Germany must understand
The political background of the ring exchange idea is treated differently in both countries. “The majority of the Czech public understands the pacifist background of post-war Germany, but [don’t understand] Why now, when there can only be peace if Russia is defeated militarily,” Jiri Pehe tells DW. Germany is so reluctant to supply certain weapons to Ukraine.” Grigorij Meseznikov has the same opinion. And, he adds, “Germany must understand that Russia threatens the freedom of all of us. It would be good if Berlin took a leading role in Europe in providing military aid to Ukraine.”
Infantry fighting vehicles for Greece
With Greece, it took months — but the exchange of rings is now underway. The Greek army is taking a total of 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles from Germany. Some have already been delivered. In return, Greece will send 40 Soviet-designed tanks to Ukraine. In October, Germany and Greece finally agreed on a ring exchange, which is now underwayImage: Aristides Vafiadakis/ZUMA Wire/IMAGO The Marder tanks that have already been delivered have been deployed on the Greek-Turkish border. “Our armed forces assume that’s where tanks will be most useful,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in October at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The border zone along the Evros River in eastern Greece is currently making international headlines due to illegal migrant pushbacks and Turkish threats to Greece’s territorial integrity.
Investment in solidarity
According to Antonis Kamaras, a defense expert at the Athens-based foreign policy think tank ELIAMEP, the Marder tradition is not primarily about defending Greece. “Its main political value lies in the fact that the Greek government is investing in the concept of solidarity,” he tells DW. According to Kamaras, the use of the Greek port of Alexandroupoli to transport weapons systems, supplies and ammunition to Ukraine is a much greater contribution to solidarity than the supply of tanks. Greece allows the northern port of Alexandroupolis to be used as a staging post for arms and supplies going to Ukraine Picture: Sakis Mitrolidis/AFP Kamaras says it is understandable that Germany is reluctant to supply Marder tanks directly to Ukraine. “It’s still taboo for the German government to see German tanks back on the battlefields of World War II. That’s German history,” he says. Hans-Peter Bartels, president of the German Society for Political Security (GSP), Germany’s oldest political security association, believes the ring exchange is just a “temporary phase in German politics, in which they say they don’t want to supply arms directly to Ukraine”. This, he points out, is already beginning to change. Germany already supplies Ukraine with rocket launchers and heavy artillery, for example. “Yesterday’s skepticism turns into today’s ‘maybe’ and tomorrow’s ‘we’re proud of it,’” Bartels tells DW. “The Line Shifts During Wartime.” And as for whether the exchange of rings benefits Ukraine, Bertels doesn’t think so. The last months of fighting have shown how much more effective Western weapons are than Soviet ones. Furthermore, as Ukrainian forces receive more training with Western weapons, it is harder to argue that their military is unable to use them. This article has been translated from German.
