Disagreement arose between the politicians of Poland and Germany regarding the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, reports Bloomberg.
Bilateral cooperation is going smoothly, apart from disagreements over tanks and weapons, say Berlin officials. Polish leaders are accused of delaying the delivery of battle tanks to the front while not missing the opportunity to "attack" Berlin. In particular, the head of Poland, Andrzej Duda, criticized Germany for problems in the supply of spare parts for old Leopard tanks.
“The main responsibility rests with Germany, the main producer of those tanks. Older-model Leopards they had committed to sending will be of limited use without spare parts from Germany”, said Polish President.
In turn, the German side claims that since the A4 tanks are outdated and not in use, the German military does not have spare parts suitable for them. In addition, Germany's critics have pointed out how it hastily tried to deliver obsolete tanks to Ukraine.
The Polish government often views Germany as "more focused on competing with Poland for international kudos — responding in kind to training Ukrainian soldiers or making tanks available — than actually giving Kyiv what it needs," said an anonymous official.
Tensions between the two countries have been heightening for a few months before the upcoming Polish elections in October. According to the source, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed confidence that the tension is related to the elections and expects the situation to normalize by the end of the election campaign. Cooperation continues actively in other areas, such as energy. For example, Germany is working to sell an oil refinery near Berlin owned by a Russian state oil company. The Polish state company PKN Orlen SA is interested in buying the share.
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