Germany Announces Resumption Of Arms Shipments To Saudi Arabia
The German government has lifted an export ban on arms shipments to Saudi Arabia that has been in place since 2018, with a delivery of air-to-air missiles becoming the first shipment made following the end of the ban.
Government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit confirmed on Wednesday that Berlin had approved the shipment of 150 IRIS-T infrared guided short-range air-to-air missiles to Ridayh, following a report by Der Spiegel that it had done so in December.
His statement followed the German foreign ministry’s announcement that it had dropped its opposition to the United Kingdom’s proposed sale of 48 Eurofighters to Saudi Arabia. On Monday, Hebestreit said that Eurofighters currently in service with the Royal Saudi Air Force had been used to shoot down Houthi missiles that were bound for Israel, “and it is in the light of all these developments that the German government’s position on the Eurofighter must be seen.”
Angela Merkel’s government instituted the ban in 2018, following widespread criticism of Saudi conduct in its intervention to restore the Yemeni government after a coup by the Houthi movement, with the Saudi-led coalition widely blamed for the humanitarian crisis in the country that has since unfolded. As the Eurofighter is jointly developed and built by Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, the German government’s opposition alone was able to block a possible sale of Eurofighters to Saudi Arabia.
However, the move to lift the export ban is in direct contradiction with the 2021 coalition agreement that underpins the current German government, with the agreement between the Social Democratic Party, Free Democratic Party and the Greens prohibiting weapons exports to any nation directly involved in the Yemeni civil war. During the Vilnius NATO summit in July 2023, German Chancellor Olof Scholz said that his government would not be approving an Eurofighter sale to Saudi Arabia “anytime soon”.
In response to the Eurofighter announcement, Bundestag defense committee chair Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said the debate over the announcement showed that the Chancellery did not understand that security policy needed a “values compass”. “Anyone who exports (Eurofighters) to Saudi Arabia must also deliver Taurus (aircraft launched cruise missiles) to Ukraine”, said Strack-Zimmermann on Monday.