Germany announces arms swap deal with Greece, as previous deals flounder

 Germany announces arms swap deal with Greece, as previous deals flounder

By Davide Basso | EURACTIV.fr, Julia Dahm, Nikolaus J. Kurmayer | EURACTIV.de and Sarantis Michalopoulos | EURACTIV.com | EURACTIV.com 8:01 (updated:  10:28)

The German government purportedly wants to chain swap German "Marder" tanks to Greece, which will then supply Soviet era vehicles to Ukraine, which Germany had sold to them in 1994. [EPA-EFE/CLEMENS BILAN]

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced a swap deal with Greece to deliver arms to Ukraine after Berlin reportedly failed to deliver on previous similar deals. 

Scholz’s announcement also surprised Greeks, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis did not say a word about the matter at a press conference after the EU Council. 

The chancellor held talks with his Greek counterpart, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on the sidelines of the European Council meeting on Tuesday (31 May) in Brussels.

“[Greece] will supply Ukraine, and we will supply them with German armoured personnel carriers,” Scholz told a press conference. The final details would now need to be hashed out amongst the two countries’ defence ministers before their “swift” implementation, he added.

Scholz explained that supporting Ukraine with arms included “that countries with weapons from the era of the Warsaw pact” can deliver theirs to Ukraine, like the chain swap agreement with Czechia. “I have now agreed with the Greek prime minister to do the same with Greece.”

The Greek ministry of defence noted that Athens would provide BMP-1 armoured personnel carriers developed and manufactured by the Soviet Union in the 1960s.

Germany had initially sold 500 of them to Greece in 1994. Then, the Greeks paid around 50,000 German Marks (about €25,000) apiece. Now, less than 200 remain as the rest has been sold off or destroyed.

The kicker: The tanks that Greece will receive in exchange are purported to be tanks of the type “Marder,” for which the arms manufacturer Rheinmetall had unsuccessfully applied for permission to sell to Ukraine weeks ago, according to Business Insider.

Additionally, these chain swaps favoured by the German government have hitherto been mired in controversy.

Last Tuesday (24 May), Polish President Andrzej Duda had accused Germany of breaking its promises to deliver tanks to the country in return for Warsaw’s arm shipments to Ukraine.

“They have not fulfilled this promise. And frankly: we are very disappointed about it,” Duda told German daily Welt.

Scholz said he had also talked to his Polish counterpart, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, to ensure that the chain swap with Poland would proceed smoothly. “We both want to achieve this in the best, good cooperation,” he added.

In the case of a similar deal struck with Czechia earlier this month, no date for delivering the arms has been announced.

These chain swaps are generally thought to benefit Ukraine as it is more familiar with Soviet-era equipment. The BMP could be a sort of “armoured personnel carrier to go” for the Ukrainian forces, commented a military expert.

Yet, the Ukrainian ambassador to Berlin, Andrij Melnyk, highlighted that  “nobody had the idea to ask Ukrainians whether we need the old stuff at all.”

Concerns about Germany skirting its responsibilities remain.

“First of all, it is Germany itself that should help Ukraine,” Duda noted.

His concerns are shared by some analysts. “Why not deliver directly to Ukraine? Because delivering to Greece is seen as less damaging to the relationship with Russia, which is still being relied on?” asked analyst Ulrich Speck on Twitter.

Learning the news from Scholz 

The announcement surprised Greeks, as at a press conference after the summit, which was the same time as the German chancellor’s one, Mitsotakis did not mention anything about such a deal. 

When asked about his bilateral meeting with Scholz, Mitsotakis said he informed him about the new escalation with Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean while he avoided replying how the German chancellor reacted.  

“We consider it unthinkable for the Greek people to learn this news from the German Chancellor, at a time when the Greek Prime Minister did not say a word in his own interview,” the main opposition Syriza party said in a statement. 

The opposition also considers this move “dangerous” for the country’s national interest as Greece is getting “directly involved in the war in Ukraine” when escalation with Turkey is also on the rise.  

“Mitsotakis government must stop making secret decisions on critical national issues […] We demand immediate information on the weapons it has sent and will send to Ukraine, as all European governments do, respecting their citizens,” Syriza added.

Macron backs Athens, others remain silent

Long-standing tensions between the two countries have started to simmer once again especially after a visit of Mitsotakis to the US.

Eyeing Turkey’s pressure on the US to unlock a deal for the delivery of F-16 jet fighters, Mitsotakis told the US Congress that Washington should mind the consequences of such decisions.

The statement triggered the strong reaction of Ankara, which used its veto on the NATO accession of Sweden and Finland to put pressure on Washington over the F-16 jet fighters.

“He no longer exists for me. I will never agree to meet with him. We will continue our way with honourable politicians,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. 

Athens is desperately looking for allies in the fresh escalation with Turkey, which even questions the sovereignty of many Greek islands.

But for now, the Commission, Berlin and Washington have taken a neutral stance. 

Only French President Emmanuel Macron spontaneously referred to the escalation of tensions between Greece and Turkey at the end of the extraordinary meeting of the European Council.

He assured Greece of the “support of all Europeans and in particular of France”. 

The Turkish authorities’ comments “calling into question Greece’s sovereignty over several islands” must be “condemned as soon as possible”, according to the French president.

“No one can endanger the sovereignty of a Member State,” Macron concluded.

The French president had not spoken out so clearly on the subject since the summer of 2020, when he denounced Erdogan’s government’s “inadmissible behaviour” in the region.

On Saturday, the Elysée Palace told EURACTIV France that the French president did not discuss the crisis between Greece and Turkey during his call with Erdogan but only topics related to the war in Ukraine.

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