Swiss parliament’s upper chamber approves sale of 25 Leopard tanks to Germany

By Timo Kirez

GENEVA (AA) - The upper chamber of the Swiss parliament, the Council of States, has approved the decommissioning of 25 Leopard 2 tanks of the Swiss Army, allowing them to be resold to Germany, public broadcaster SRF reported Tuesday.

The Swiss Army has a total of 96 decommissioned Leopard 2 tanks. Decommissioning the tanks is a prerequisite for their resale. The lower chamber of the Swiss parliament, the National Council, had already approved the plan in June.

The details of the sellback of the tanks to their German manufacturer, Rheinmetall, including the exact timing, will now be decided by the Swiss government.

Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had asked in February for the Leopard 2 tanks to be sold back to Rheinmetall.

This is to replace tanks supplied to Ukraine. The ministers assured neutral Switzerland that they would not transfer the Leopard 2s to Kyiv.