美国国家公共电台 NPR--After weeks of pressure, Germany agrees to send its Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine

After weeks of pressure, Germany agrees to send its Leopard¹ battle tanks to Ukraine

Transcript²

A spokesman for German Chancellor⁴ Olaf Scholz confirmed to NPR that Germany will send a company of 14 tanks to Ukraine. Scholz announced the decision during a cabinet meeting Wednesday.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has confirmed that his country will send German-made Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine. The decision comes as the U.S. makes plans to deliver Abrams tanks to Ukraine as well. NPR's Berlin correspondent Rob Schmitz joins us now.

Rob, so what do we know about Germany's decision?

ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE⁵: Yeah. A spokesman for Chancellor Olaf Scholz has confirmed to NPR that Germany is sending an initial shipment of 14 Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. These are tanks that'll come straight from stocks managed by the German armed forces. The spokesman added that training of Ukrainian crews on how to operate these tanks will begin soon.

MART?NEZ: And Germany's has been under pressure to clear the way for these tanks. Why'd it take so long?

SCHMITZ: Yeah. First of all, Germany's own defense⁶ capabilities⁷ are slim due to decades of neglect and lack of funding. So I think there was a genuine concern on the part of Chancellor Scholz that if he sends Germany's most state-of-the-art tanks to Ukraine, then Germany wouldn't be left with much to defend itself. I spoke³ to Sudha David-Wilp, head of the Berlin office of The German Marshall Fund, about why it took so long for Germany to make this decision. And she gave three reasons for Germany's hesitation⁸.

SUDHA DAVID-WILP: One is because there has not really been a clear majority in the German electorate⁹ for sending tanks. Two, he's had a lot of pressure within his own party about getting dragged into the war. And then I guess there is also a genuine fear about what this would trigger on the part of Russia.

SCHMITZ: And, A, I think there's - that's also the reason why Chancellor Scholz wanted the U.S. to send its Abrams tanks. He didn't want Germany to be alone in taking an action that the Kremlin could very well see as a major escalation¹⁰.

MART?NEZ: Well, yeah, the Kremlin called the prospect¹¹ of tank deliveries from Germany and the U.S. a blatant¹² provocation¹³. So, Rob, is there fear there in Berlin that this could drag Germany into the war?

SCHMITZ: Yeah, I think there is. You know, Ralf Stegner, a politician in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrat¹⁴ Party, voiced these concerns after the tank news broke. Here's what he said on German television.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RALF STEGNER: (Speaking German).

SCHMITZ: And, A, he's saying here that - "what comes after these battle tanks - fighter jets, warships¹⁵, or will we talk about sending troops at some point? These are questions that have to be asked," he said. And he said Chancellor Scholz needs to address this. And I think he's summed up the fears from many Germans about this, which is, where does this end? Are we now being dragged into this war? It's worth pointing out here that the most recent poll shows that Germans are evenly split on sending tanks. So today's announcement will not be popular for half of the country. And partly that's because of Germany's unique history of being one of the world's biggest military aggressors and the fallout from that. So this is weighing heavily on many people here.

MART?NEZ: What about for other European countries that have these Leopard battle tanks? What does this mean now for them?

SCHMITZ: Well, it'll mean that they, too, can export these tanks to Ukraine if they want to. Poland has been asking to do this; as have other European countries. So over the following weeks, we'll likely see the first deliveries of what could be dozens of the world's most state-of-the-art tanks being handed over to Ukraine's military. And these tanks are seen by military experts as game-changing weapons that will help Ukraine defend itself against what many predict will be a tough spring offensive that Russia is now preparing.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Rob Schmitz joining us from Berlin. Rob, thanks.

SCHMITZ: Thank you.

1 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

9 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

10 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

11 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

12 blatant   

adj.厚颜无耻的；显眼的；炫耀的

参考例句：

• I cannot believe that so blatant a comedy can hoodwink anybody.我无法相信这么显眼的一出喜剧能够欺骗谁。
• His treatment of his secretary was a blatant example of managerial arrogance.他管理的傲慢作风在他对待秘书的态度上表露无遗。

13 provocation   

n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因

参考例句：

• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子，一点就着。
• They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。

14 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

15 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。