The inability of German politicians in power, particularly the Social Democrats, whose ranks include Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to deal delicately with the interests of Central and Eastern European countries is again evident. Poland was to receive 200 tanks from its NATO partner Germany as part of a so-called “circular supply” of weapons to Ukraine.

Warsaw has already sent a large number of units of this Soviet-style military equipment to Kyiv. But all the talks behind the scenes seem to have failed. The announcement was made last weekend by Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szinkowski to the German magazine Der Spiegel.

Before that, the German Defense Ministry confirmed to the German newspaper FAZ that Berlin still does not have agreements on the circular supply of tanks also with the Czech Republic and Slovakia. And that comes more than three to three months after Defense Secretary Christine Lambrecht and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz made the announcement publicly. Due to the fact that the information is confidential, all the details will not be publicly known anytime soon.

Germany is losing credibility and trust from Eastern European neighbors

From the way in which the failure of the Warsaw deal was learned, one can guess what exactly went wrong from a political point of view. Of course, this is a deeply rooted inability, above all, of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) to take into account the interests of NATO and EU partners east of the Oder and respond to their requests in an appropriately sensitive manner.

And that’s despite the resounding public breakdown of the decades-long friendly Russia-friendly policy pursued by the Social Democrats, especially energy, which was also led by former chancellor of the conservative CDU, Angela Merkel. Germany continues to lose credibility in relations with Central and Eastern European countries. And this is happening at the most important historical moment for relations with our Eastern European neighbors.

According to Article 51 of the UN Charter, the democratically elected government in Kyiv has the right to defend itself in the event of an attack. Furthermore, the Baltic countries (especially Lithuania), as well as Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, interpret the right to self-defence, based on their own historical experience, much more broadly – those who do not help the wholesale make guilty of failing to provide assistance – including as part of the peaceful community of peoples. That’s why Poland sent 200 Soviet tanks to Ukraine so quickly. Germany, on the other hand, is slowing down – rather than acting decisively.

From military circles, one hears from time to time that Ukraine does not know how to handle Western weapons. Therefore, circular deliveries would be the best solution. Indeed, the Ukrainian army is demonstrating obvious success on the battlefield thanks to the newly delivered US MLRS HIMARS. According to the Ukrainian side, thanks to them, 50 Russian warehouses with ammunition in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine were destroyed last week.

In this context, the reluctance of some German Social Democrats to supply Western weapons to Ukraine seems simply absurd.

Europe’s freedom is now defended in Eastern Europe

The freedom of Europe is now being defended by Eastern Europe – by military means in Ukraine. But it is in the interests of the whole of Europe, and above all of Germany, that Russia, the aggressor, loses this war. It is absolutely indisputable, from the point of view of a historical perspective, to ask, when studying such wars, in the first place, who started them.

In September 1939, it was the Germans who invaded Poland on Hitler’s orders. And a year earlier, Germany, under the Munich Agreement, concluded against Czechoslovakia’s will, forced it to agree to the annexation of the Sudetenland, and a few months later occupied other parts of the country. For this reason, the international community after the Second World War reached a consensus on Article 51 of the UN Charter.

For the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which were divided at the beginning of the Second World War between Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union, international law is a guarantee that they can live in freedom and democracy. Therefore, every German delay, every misunderstanding, misunderstanding or failure, as in this case with Poland in Eastern Europe, will be considered from this point of view.

Poland will now turn to other NATO partners for tanks to replace those it sent to Ukraine. But once again, confidence in Berlin was lost. This policy undermines Germany’s position in Europe.

Posted by Frank Hoffmann, columnist for DW

The commentary expresses the author’s personal opinion. It may not agree with the opinion of Russian editors and Deutsche Welle in general.