Germany has not received a request from Poland or any other country for permission to transfer German-made Panther 2 tanks to Ukraine, a government spokesman said Monday.
“Until this hour we have not received a request,” Steffen Hebestreit told a news conference. “If they ask, there’s a specific procedure. I can’t say whether it will take a few days or months.”
He assured that any application would be “processed with the necessary speed, but certainly with the necessary thoroughness that such procedures demand”.
Poland is one of 13 European countries with 2 Panther tanks from Germany. According to the European Council on Foreign Relations.
It has offered to send them to Ukraine and is trying to convince other countries to do so, but Germany’s permission is usually required to re-export them.
On Sunday, the Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecick said Europe was “wasting time” in the debates.
Hepstreit, however, defended Berlin against such accusations.
“Maybe it’s better to weigh a lot of things before you take a reckless step, and then you’ll regret it terribly,” he said, adding that other countries, such as Spain, are also worried about a possible tank exchange.
