Battle tanks: what supporters and opponents say

Volker Nick went to jail for peace. In 1983, together with activists from around the world, he protested against NATO’s two-way decision and the deployment of medium-range nuclear missiles in his homeland of Mutlangen in Swabia. To this day he is a pacifist and refuses to supply war tanks to Ukraine.

Stephan Buck is not afraid of a nuclear war. He is a member of the Greens in the Alb-Donau region. It is clear to him: the West must put Putin in his place.

Party mate Susanne Wucher does not believe that tanks will bring peace to Ukraine. The road to peace opens not with more arms shipments, but with political negotiations.

From this point of view, he is in the minority in his party. According to the ZDF Politbarometer, 73 percent of Greens supporters, more than any other party, support the delivery of battle tanks.

Winfried Kretschmann, the Green Party’s Prime Minister in Baden-Württemberg, was not surprised by the overwhelming approval. “The shipment of arms to Ukraine is absolutely necessary and a requirement of solidarity. We decided on these issues in the Kosovo conflict in 1999,” he says.

In the SPD, the problem of tank deliveries is noticeably more difficult. Willy Brand and Helmut Schmidt’s Ostpolitik was characterized by steps towards softening and shaped the party’s foreign policy identity for decades.

This is how many people in the East German federal states see it. Only 35 percent favor the supply of main battle tanks, and there is great fear of directly engaging in combat.

“We are ‘Russian (…). People remember the stories their parents told about how Soviet tanks passed through the country,” says Astrid Riechmann of the SPD in Saxony. Therefore, the fear that Russia might retaliate for the West’s arms shipments is particularly evident in the East.

Right-wing extremists and conspiracy ideologues have long sought to exploit fears and turn them into political anger. But there is resistance to it.

With the slogan “Leipzig shines”, about 2 thousand people took to the streets for democracy and humanity. There is a great understanding of the need for arms shipments.

Is it right to supply main battle tanks to Ukraine? There are silent nuances of those who say yes or no to this question out loud, as well as those who struggle with themselves. Doctor Michael Hauser is a Protestant priest and religious teacher. He has been campaigning for disarmament since his youth. “I was in Estonia the other day and was wondering about a priest friend of mine. He is now the head of the militia. I was always willing to live without my military armor, but right now I am undecided,” he says.

February 24 is the anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine. Germany is also arguing over arms shipments – partly because it fears being drawn into the war. The question is whether people can listen to those concerned this time. And to separate them from those who want to abuse their fear.

In any case, the discussion about main battle tanks should not be the last. Now about the warplanes. The federal government doesn’t want to take this step – it’s made that clear so far. Those who are skeptical of the arms shipment should calm down for now.