German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany will soon have “the largest traditional army in Europe” among the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance.
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“Germany will soon have the largest conventional army in Europe within NATO,” Scholz said, adding that this would significantly strengthen the security of Germany and its allies.
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At the same time, the chancellor expressed a lack of understanding of the criticism leveled at the German authorities both at home and abroad due to the lack of military support for Ukraine.
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“We have handed over weapons and will supply more weapons,” Scholz stressed. “These orders are being fulfilled,” he added, referring to the supply of heavy weapons, which were agreed with the industry.
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In this context, Scholz recalled that Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns should be transferred to Kyiv at the end of July. In addition, according to him, Ukrainian servicemen are already being trained in handling the Panzerhaubitze 2000 artillery mount. The head of the German government was “very surprised” by Poland’s criticism that Berlin allegedly did not keep its promise to transfer German tanks to the Polish army instead of the T-72 that were sent to Ukraine.
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“We are negotiating with all our Eastern European partners and we want to advance negotiations with Poland as seriously as with the Czech Republic and Slovakia,” he assured.
