The new Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) on Friday first ordered an examination of the stocks of Leopard tanks for a possible delivery to Ukraine. A report now reveals that his predecessor Christine Lambrecht is said to have banned this within the ministry shortly before.

Former Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht apparently banned an inventory of Leopard 1 and 2 tanks within the ministry a week before her resignation, against the advice of her house. This is reported by “Business Insider” based on several sources in the Department of Defense.

Regarding the possible reasons, the ministry said: Allegedly, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) should not be put under additional pressure on the question of possible main battle tank deliveries. The concern: If it had come out that the Bundeswehr was counting its operational tanks, that could have been interpreted as a willingness to deliver tanks. They allegedly wanted to avoid this impression, especially since the Chancellery is said to have not issued a corresponding formal inspection order to the Ministry of Defense by then, it is said.

A request from Business Insider on Friday evening left Christine Lambrecht unanswered for the time being. The new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) said on Friday on the sidelines of the Ramstein summit that he had instructed an inventory to be taken on the same day. The announcement had caused astonishment, since the topic had been discussed for months.

CDU foreign affairs expert Roderich Kiesewetter was speechless that it was only the new Defense Minister who commissioned an inventory of the Leopard 1 and 2 available in the Bundeswehr and industrial stocks. “It is embarrassing and frightening that Germany apparently only remembered this almost a year after the beginning of the war.”