“We had all the necessary permits”

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Last week, pictures appeared on the internet of one or two armored vehicles from the Swiss manufacturer Mowag from the Ukrainian front. The surprise was great, nobody knew anything about it. For reasons of neutrality, no Swiss weapons may be supplied to warring parties.

The previous investigations only showed that a total of 36 Eagle I armored vehicles from the Kreuzlingen TG-based manufacturer Mowag were exported to the Danish army in the 1990s. The export took place in accordance with the applicable War Materials Act at the time.

On December 17, 2012, Denmark requested permission to re-export 27 vehicles to a German private company, which Switzerland granted on April 5, 2013. Like Denmark before it, the German company promised to refrain from re-exporting.

“Had all permits”

Now the big guesswork is over: the German company is FWW Fahrzeugwerke GmbH and its CEO and owner Thomas Bockhold (64), as the “NZZ” reports.

He didn’t want any problems at his age and had coordinated everything with the authorities, he told the newspaper. “We had all the necessary permits.” According to the former Bundeswehr officer, the Eagle vehicles were completely demilitarized and the weapon system and armored glass were removed.

There is even a document confirming demilitarization, Bockhold told the NZZ. But he did not want to hand over the official document to the newspaper: “You just have to believe me.”

In Germany it is possible to obtain a certificate from the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection once a weapon of war has been rendered useless as such.

Swiss law is stricter

Only: According to Swiss law, demilitarized armored vehicles are also considered war material, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) reports about Blick. The only exceptions to this are civilian special protection limousines and valuables transporters.

“Under the War Material Act, not only finished products such as weapons and weapon systems are considered war material, but also individual parts and assemblies – such as armor for a vehicle,” says Seco. For this reason, there are no permits for demilitarization in the Swiss law on war material.

Bockhold should therefore probably also have obtained Switzerland’s approval for the transfer of the armored cars. The NZZ writes that Bockhold himself criticizes the hard course that Bern is following when it comes to the transfer of war material to Ukraine.

“case closed”

In an interview with the “NZZ”, he also said that not all 27 Eagles are in Ukraine. His offer: “Switzerland must get in touch if they absolutely want the remaining vehicles still in Germany back and scrap them.”

It is unclear whether he has already received an inquiry from Bern. When asked by Blick, Bockhold said only: “I will give no further information, but I can assure the correctness of the procedure. For me the case is closed.” (oco/dba)

Source:Blick