German Navy Sends Minesweepers to Bolster NATOs North Flank

German navy ships left the northern port of Kiel on Monday, February 28, to reinforce NATO s northern flank as Alliance members rally in defence of Ukraine. The minehunting boats SulzbachRosenberg and Homburg, the minesweeper Siegburg and the tender Elbe departed for the Baltic Sea on Monday. The departing vessels follow the corvette Erfurt and the fleet service boat Alster that left on Saturday under the motto: Not on our watch. The ships departure coincides with a policy shift that means Germany will now supply Ukraine with defensive antitank weapons, surfacetoair missiles and ammunition. After facing criticism for refusing to send weapons to Kyiv, unlike other Western allies, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Berlin will supply Ukraine with 1, 000 antitank weapons and 500 Stinger surfacetoair missiles from Bundeswehr stocks. Germany has a longstanding policy of not exporting weapons to war zones, rooted partly in its bloody 20thcentury history and resulting pacifism. Countries aiming to