PM Morawiecki says Poland may send Leopard tanks to Ukraine without Germany’s permission

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Warsaw is building a coalition of nations ready to send Leopards to Kyiv even without Berlin’s consent

Ukraine has said the German-made tanks are vital if it is to prevail over Russia’s invading forces

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A Polish Leopard tank takes part in a military exercise in Nowogard, Poland. File photo: AFP

Published: 5:58pm, 23 Jan 2023

Poland will ask Germany for permission to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday.

Morawiecki didn’t specify when the request will be made. He said that Poland is building a coalition of nations ready to send Leopards.

Even if there is no permission from Germany, Warsaw will make its own decisions, he said, without elaborating.

“We will ask [Germany] for permission, but this is a secondary theme,” Morawiecki said. “Even if, eventually, we do not get this permission, we – within this small coalition – even if Germany is not in this coalition, we will hand over our tanks, together with the others, to Ukraine.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told French television channel LCI on Sunday that Poland hasn’t formally asked for Berlin’s approval to share some of its German-made Leopards, but added “if we were asked, we would not stand in the way.”

Regarding Baerbock’s comments, Morawiecki said that “exerting pressure makes sense” and that her words are a “spark of hope” that Germany may even take part in the coalition.