(Berlin) With its back to the wall in the face of criticism, Germany hardened its position on Saturday against Russia by agreeing to deliver arms to war-torn Ukraine and to exclude Russian banks from the Swift interbank platform.
Posted at 11:28
Updated at 7:46 p.m.
The arms decision is a major political reversal for this country, whose official position since the Second World War has been not to deliver “lethal” weapons to conflict zones. There were, however, exceptions that generated controversy.
Berlin has authorized the delivery to Kiev of 1,400 anti-tank rocket launchers, 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles and nine howitzers, the government announced.
“The Russian aggression against Ukraine marks a change of era, it threatens the order established since the post-war period”, justified Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a press release. “In this situation it is our duty to help Ukraine as much as we can to defend itself against Vladimir Putin’s invading army.”
Specifically, 1,000 rocket launchers will come directly from German army stocks and 400 others, which were initially delivered to the Netherlands, will now go to Ukraine. The howitzers will come from Estonia, which acquired them first from Berlin.
These howitzers are old, they once belonged to the army of the former communist East Germany.
Reviews
Berlin is thus responding to the vehement criticism it has been the subject of for several weeks for its refusal to export such weapons, coming both from the Ukrainian authorities but also from EU partners such as the Baltic States or Poland.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted by calling on Olaf Scholz to “keep it up” in “the anti-war coalition”.
The restrictive policy followed by the first European economy since the post-war period in terms of arms exports has its source in the horrors of Nazism which gave birth to a pacifism deeply rooted in public opinion.
This position was, however, less and less tenable politically since the outbreak of the invasion of the country by the Russian army.
At the same time, the German government announced the dispatch to Ukraine of 14 armored vehicles as well as 10,000 tonnes of fuel “via Poland”. “Other support measures are currently being studied,” said the government source.
“After Russia’s shameful attack, Ukraine must defend itself,” said Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
Another taboo broken on Saturday: the government began to give in on Swift, after having long refused to consider excluding Moscow from this key cog in global finance, for fear of being penalized in return for its deliveries of gas, oil and Russian coal.
It was even the spokesperson for the German government, whose country currently chairs the G7 forum, who announced this new measure. This will exclude many Russian banks from the Swift interbank platform, an essential cog in global finance. This decision was taken by the United States, France, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, Italy and the European Commission.
Targeted limitation
Annalena Baerbock and her counterpart in the Economy, Robert Habeck, had indicated earlier in a joint press release that they were working on “a targeted and functional limitation” of Swift for Russian financial institutions.
According to the European Union, about 70% of the Russian banking sector is currently affected by the sanctions.
On Saturday, before the announcement, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, visiting Berlin, had described Germany’s attitude towards Swift as “concrete selfishness”.
In the midst of the battle for the takeover of Kiev, Volodymyr Zelensky had also urged Berlin on Saturday to have the “courage” to block Russia’s access to Swift.
Swift allows interbank settlements between institutions around the world and, for example, prevents Germany from having to pay for its Russian gas in cash.
An exclusion is considered an “atomic weapon” in financial matters. Because disconnecting a State from Swift also means preventing its own banks from making transactions with the banks of the punished country.
Several other European countries reluctant on the subject, such as Austria, Italy and Hungary, had made it known that they were now ready to accept the “sanction” Swift, isolating Berlin, temporarily.