EU country to supply tanks to Ukraine as part of German deal

Croatia will send dozens of its older tanks and infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia in exchange for a discount on the purchase of Leopard 2s from Germany, the Balkan nation’s Defense Ministry has said. 

A letter of intent was signed by the two NATO allies during talks between Croatian Defense Minister Ivan Anusic and his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, in Berlin earlier this week, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. 

In the document, Zagreb and Berlin confirmed their readiness to provide Kiev with 30 Yugoslavian-made M-84 tanks and 30 M-80 infantry fighting vehicles, which are currently operated by the Croatian military, the statement reads. The 60 vehicles will only constitute the first delivery, it added. 

As part of the agreement, Germany will be buying the hardware from Croatia, but instead of money, Zagreb will receive a discount from Berlin on the future purchase of new German-made Leopard 2A8s, the ministry explained.  

According to the statement, Anusic described the scheme as “suitable” for all three sides involved – Croatia, Germany, and Ukraine.

Zagreb intends to buy a total of 50 Leopard 2s as part of a modernization of the Croatian armed forces, the ministry said. 

The M-84 is a Yugoslavian-made main battle tank based on the Soviet T-72. Its production began in the mid-1980s. Croatia, which was once a republic of Yugoslavia, upgraded the tanks in the 1990s and early 2000s. The BVP M-80 is a tracked infantry fighting vehicle produced by Yugoslavia from the 1980s until the country’s collapse in 1992.

In late 2022, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said, “Ukraine is not an ally” and criticized the EU’s decision to grant Kiev candidate status as “cynical.” Last year, the country also refused to provide training to Ukrainian troops over concerns it could be drawn into the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. 

However, Zagreb began deliveries of Mi-8 transport helicopters and robotic mine-clearing systems to Ukraine in 2023.

Moscow has warned that supplies of weapons to Kiev by the US and EU nations will not prevent Russia from achieving its military goals in the conflict, but will merely prolong the fighting and increase the risk of a direct confrontation with NATO. According to Russian officials, the provision of arms, the sharing of intelligence, and the training of Ukrainian troops means that Western nations have already become de-facto parties to the conflict.