The traffic light government wanted to do everything very differently from the grand coalition. Especially when it comes to arms deliveries, Germany should act according to much stricter rules. The SPD, Greens and FDP had decided to do this with a view to Saudi Arabia: “We will not issue export licenses for armaments to states as long as they can be shown to be directly involved in the Yemen war,” says the coalition agreement. Since 2015, a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia has been bombing the country on the Gulf of Aden, which was divided by the civil war. The United Nations reports 380,000 dead, four million refugees and around 19 million people suffering from hunger.
But the traffic light is at least indirectly involved in the war by continuing to supply weapons to the royal family in Riyadh. As was announced last week, Robert Habeck’s (Greens) Ministry of Economics approved the export of equipment and ammunition for the Eurofighter and Tornado fighter jets worth around 36 million euros. As part of a European cooperation project with France, Spain and Great Britain, spare parts for the Airbus A330 MRTT worth 2.8 million euros are also to be supplied. But a week before the Green party conference, loud protests are stirring.
Dictatorships that dismember critical journalists must not be recipients of German or European weapons.
Jamila Schäfer, Green Party politician
“This is a clear break with the coalition agreement. We fought hard for the Yemen clause to exist,” says Jamila Schäfer, the Greens’ external expert in the Bundestag. Together with her parliamentary group colleagues Max Lucks and Sara Nanni, she submitted a motion to the Green Party Congress in Bonn calling on the federal government to “return to full implementation of the arms embargo against Saudi Arabia”. The “Spiegel” was the first to report on the application. “Dictatorships that dismember critical journalists must not be recipients of German or European weapons,” Schäfer told the Tagesspiegel.
It is noteworthy how many members of the Greens parliamentary group support the motion across wings. In addition to party leftists such as Canan Bayram from Berlin, foreign politician Julian Pahlke and ex-group leader Anton Hofreiter, there are also numerous realos such as health policy spokesman Janosch Dahmen, financial policy spokeswoman Katharina Beck or digital politician Tobias Bacherle.
The motion caused a stir in the party. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Sven Giegold, State Secretary responsible for arms exports in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, had to explain themselves in a group switching conference. Baerbock is said to have pointed out the pressure from Spain and France. One cannot afford a blockade in the current crisis. Apparently that didn’t convince their own people. Probably also because some frustration has built up in the nuclear debate and the decision to excavate the lignite village of Lützerath, the anger is now all the greater.
Is there a connection with the Chancellor’s visit?
Sharp criticism even came from the Greens in the European Parliament. Rasmus Andresen, group leader in the EU Parliament, has no understanding for the deliveries. “Even if this happens as part of European cooperation, I believe that the Federal Republic should not supply any weapon parts,” says Andresen, who also signed the application. The Greens should stay the course.
It must not become foreign policy practice to combine the chancellor’s state visits with arms deals.
Timon Dzienus, spokesman for the Green Youth
The deal is also piquant because it coincides closely with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s (SPD) visit to Riyadh. There, the chancellor had primarily promoted energy supplies. A barter? Even the suspicion causes trouble. “It must not become foreign policy practice to combine the chancellor’s state visits with arms deals,” says Timon Dzienus. The spokesman for the Green Youth considers the application a good step to correct the decision of the federal government.
A reversal of the decision of the federal government seems impossible. The initiators of the application demand that such a step not be repeated. If the party leadership and Green Ministers signal approval for this, the application could also be cleared before the party congress. In the future, exceptions should no longer be possible, Dzienus also demands: “But the goal must be that the arms export control law is tightened and we don’t deliver weapons to autocrats.”
To home page
Source: Tagesspiegel
I work as a news website author and mostly cover the opinion section. I have been writing since I was a teenager, and have always enjoyed telling stories. I studied journalism at university and loved every minute of it. After graduating, I decided to move to London and take up a position with a Global Happenings. It has been an incredible experience, learning about all sorts of different cultures and meeting some amazing people. My goal is to continue learning and growing in my career so that I can provide readers with the best possible content.
