The Netherlands and Germany want to send more weapons to Ukraine. This was stated by Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra and her German colleague Annalena Baerbock during a joint press conference in The Hague. And this is not convenient timing, sees political journalist Sophie van Leeuwen too.
And this has everything to do with the resignation of German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht today. “Unfortunately it’s really timing,” she says. ‘Lambrecht resigned in connection with many errors, and was a minister without decisiveness. For example, he reacted late to the war in Ukraine and to requests for heavy weapons from Germany, and the state of the German military as a whole is not exactly prosperous.’
At the press conference, she was thanked for her services by Baerbock, Van Leeuwen points out. And now the call is really “more weapons for Ukraine,” she continues. “This is a new path for Germany, and Wopke Hoekstra agrees.”
Presence
But are those weapons really there? Foreign journalists are skeptical about it, as revealed during the press conference. Van Leeuwen: ‘A journalist questioned Hoekstra and pointed out that Holland has no tanks. And Hoekstra had to agree. And the Netherlands has little or no access to heavy weapons. Indeed, Holland is struggling with a shortage of weapons, and sooner or later it will have to get them.
According to Van Leeuwen, Hoekstra will also talk about this with Joe Biden tomorrow, during his visit to the United States with Prime Minister Mark Rutte. “I can imagine that a request will end up on his desk,” says Van Leeuwen. “If the United States Can Arrange Arms for Ukraine and Germany.”
Shopping list
Though not publicly mentioned, Baerbock appears to be sending some kind of shopping list to the United States via Hoekstra, Van Leeuwen thinks. “Germans also suffer from a lack of weapons, and they can be found in the United States,” he says. “So we will probably talk about it with Joe Biden, but no concrete commitments have been made today”.
But, says Van Leeuwen, promises have been made. “Hoekstra said winning the war could only happen on the battlefield,” he concludes. “And that requires weapons, he says.”
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
