Switzerland hinders supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine
Russian service DW, April 24, 2022, 13:13
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Bern, citing neutrality, forbade Berlin to transfer Swiss-made ammunition used in the Marder infantry fighting vehicle to Kyiv. But, as the media found out, military components from Switzerland are already being used in Ukraine.
An unexpected obstacle to the supply of heavy weapons from Germany to Ukraine may be the position of the Swiss authorities. The government in Bern has banned Germany from transferring Swiss-made ammunition used in the Marder infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) to Ukraine.
A representative of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) confirmed the fact of the ban, the Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday, April 24.
“Seco received two requests from Germany to transfer ammunition previously produced in Switzerland to Ukraine. Both requests were answered in the negative with reference to the neutrality of Switzerland and the mandatory rejection criteria provided for by the legislation on military property,” the publication quotes the words of a representative of the department.
At the same time, as noted by the Swiss Internet portal 20min.ch, military products from Switzerland are already in the war zone: the UK sent anti-tank weapons with Swiss warheads to Ukraine.
The British are taking advantage of a loophole in Swiss law: no special federal permission is required to export individual weapons parts or assemblies.
German producers are ready to supply BMP Marder to Ukraine
On the eve it became known that a subsidiary of the German defense concern Rheinmetall applied to the federal government in Berlin for permission to supply Kyiv with 100 Marder-type infantry fighting vehicles.
Heavy weapons for Ukraine. Germany changes position
The request was received by the German Ministry of Economy and was immediately transferred to the Federal Security Council. Now this body, headed by German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, will have to decide in the coming days whether Berlin is ready for a direct supply of heavy weapons from Germany to Ukraine.
According to Welt am Sonntag, this is the first such application since the start of Russia's war against a neighboring state.
