BERLIN ¨C There will be no grace period for Germany¡¯s new defense minister who takes office as pressure is piling on Berlin to send battle tanks to Ukraine and to upgrade its dilapidated armed forces in the face of Europe¡¯s biggest conflict since World War II.
Boris Pistorius, 62, will take over on Thursday, just a day before a major arms pledging conference at the U.S. military base of Ramstein in western Germany, succeeding Christine Lambrecht, who quit on Monday following a series of blunders. It will befall the outgoing Lower Saxony interior minister to explain to partners whether Berlin will deliver German-made Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine or at least allow others to do so, a decision seen as key to Kyiv¡¯s efforts to repel Russian troops. This week, Britain raised the pressure on Berlin by becoming the first Western country to send Western tanks, pledging a squadron of its Challengers, but the Leopards are seen as the best choice to supply Ukraine with a large-scale tank force.
Germany¡¯s reticence has raised questions about how serious it is about the ¡°Zeitenwende,¡± or new era of more assertive foreign policy backed by more military spending, that Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Feb. 27, just days after Russia¡¯s invasion of Ukraine.
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