German Defence Committee chief calls on Olaf Scholz to deploy Marder vehicles to Ukraine

German Defence Committee Chief, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann has called on Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz to provide 50 Marder Infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine at the earliest. She urged Scholz to have a special coordinator for the delivery of arms and "transport communication of German services to Ukraine," citing security reasons after the delivery of 50 Marder Infantry fighting vehicles, Bild reported. She further stressed that the 50 Marder Infantry fighting vehicles must be provided "immediately or before the parliamentary summer break" in July.

As per the Bild report, the German chancellor has not been allowing the export of Marder vehicles for weeks. Furthermore, Free Democratic Party leader Alexander Graf Lambsdorff has also backed the delivery of Marder to Ukraine. Lambsdorff noted that the Ukrainian troops will be able to move safely in a Marder infantry fighting vehicle. Free Democratic Party leader Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann's statement comes as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues for more than 90 days and it has led to deaths and destruction in the war-torn nation. 

Earlier in April, Germany agreed to provide anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine. German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht announced Berlin's intention to supply the Gepard anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, as per the CNN report. In his address at the Ramstein US Air Force base in Germany on 26 April, Lambrecht said that they had decided to support Ukraine by providing them with an anti-aircraft system which Germany needs to protect its airspace. Notably, it is the first time Germany had agreed to provide heavy weaponry to Ukraine since Russia launched its military offensive. 

Germany increases military support fund for foreign countries

At the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, Germany did not provide weapons to the war-torn nation and only provided humanitarian assistance and medical equipment as per the country's policy of not supplying lethal weapons to the crisis zone. Earlier on 15th April, Germany announced an increase in military support funds for foreign countries to 2 billion euros (₹1,66,49,54,03,040), of which, most will go to Ukraine. Germany's Finance Minister Christian Lindner took to his Twitter handle to announce the increase in military support funds for foreign countries. He tweeted, "In #Ergänzungshaushalt the military #Ertüchtigungshilfe is raised to 2 billion euros. Most of the funds go to #Ukraine." He further informed that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had requested it at an early stage.

Image: AP/Facebook/MarieAgnesStrackZimmermann