Polish soldiers and politicians delighted with old German Leopard tanks

The Polish and German Defense Ministers, Jerzy Szmajdzinski and Peter Struck, yesterday signed an agreement giving Poland 128 German 2A4 Leopard tanks and hundreds of vehicles from the Bundeswehr reserve. President Aleksander Kwasniewski participated in the ceremony signing the agreement. Minister Struck called it a milestone in joint cooperation between the two countries. Captain Andrzej Borowiak a commander of First Company said, "Our immediate impression was that we had lots of space inside the tank". Soldiers commented that driving the Leopard tank is like driving a luxury car in comparison to the T-72, or even the modern PT-91. Deputy Minister of Defense Janusz Zemke said that the gift is worth zl. 1.5 billion. The only cost borne by Poland was for transportation and initial maintenance to pull the tanks out of the reserve pool, which totalled about zl. 90 million. The agreement allows Polish arms factories to service the units and produce necessary ammunition. (Rzeczpospolita, p. 4) M.M.