Pak Sahafat – German media reported that Germany’s new coalition government has approved new arms export contracts to Saudi Arabia.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency from Deutsche Welle, reports in this regard have leaked out through some German press after German Chancellor Olaf Schultz returned from his trip to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
Berlin had banned arms exports to Riyadh because of its involvement in the Yemen war and the murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Der Spiegel and dpa news agency reported that German Economy Minister and Vice Chancellor Robert Haubeck confirmed in a letter to the Bundestag (German Parliament) that several arms export deals had been approved by Schultz prior to his visit to the region.
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According to the letter, the export licenses will be part of a joint program with Italy, Spain and the UK.
According to Spiegel’s report, Riyadh can now purchase equipment and ammunition for Eurofighter and Tornado jets worth 36 million euros. According to dpa, the European cooperation project will provide spare parts for Airbus A330 MRTT aircraft worth 2.8 million euros.
Germany’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia reached 1.24 billion euros in 2012. But in 2018, Germany’s ruling government, consisting of the conservative CDU/CSU and the Social Democrats (SPD), agreed to ban arms exports to countries involved in the Yemeni war.
However, their agreement had loopholes; because several exceptions allowed some German military materials to be exported to this country. A complete ban on arms exports was implemented a year after Khashoggi’s murder. Since then, the ban has been extended twice.
The ban was announced in line with Berlin’s stance of not exporting weapons to areas of active conflict. However, that position changed this year as Germany came under pressure to provide arms to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.
Since 2014, Riyadh has led the so-called coalition in Yemen to fight the Houthi forces and has created what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. But with the implementation of a UN-brokered ceasefire in April, which has since been extended twice, hopes for an end to the conflict have risen. Berlin is also looking to improve its relations with energy exporters as it seeks to reduce its dependence on Russian gas amid the war in Ukraine. Saudi Arabia is one of the most important energy exporters in the world.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Germany is one of the largest arms producers and exporters in the world, and the sales of this Western European country have increased by 21% from 2016 to 2020. Its biggest customers were South Korea, Algeria and Egypt.