No Script

Please Wait...

Ramadan Kareem...

UK Criticizes Germany Over Saudi Arms Sales Ban

UK Criticizes Germany Over Saudi Arms Sales Ban
folder_openEurope... access_time5 years ago
starAdd to favorites

By Staff, Press TV

Britain strongly objected to Germany’s recent decision to bar arms and military cooperation deals with Saudi Arabia, warning that the new policy damages Berlin’s security commitments while adversely affecting the British military industry.

Germany announced in November that it would no longer issue arms export licenses to Saudi Arabia following the Riyadh regime’s murdering of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi and as the Saudi war in Yemen has been increasingly in the spotlight.

The ban was first seen as nothing but a symbolic move as Germany accounted for just under two percent of Saudi Arabia’s total arms imports. However, it raised concerns among British arms makers who rely heavily on German parts for their products.

German magazine Der Spiegel reported Tuesday that British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt had raised the issue in a letter to his German counterpart, Heiko Maas.

“I am very concerned about the impact of the German government’s decision on the British and European defense industry and the consequences for Europe’s ability to fulfill its NATO commitments,” Hunt wrote, according to the magazine.

Hunt also said British military firms would not be able to fulfill several contracts with Riyadh including advanced fighter jets and missiles that used some German technologies.

The decision is expected to postpone a proposed 10-billion-pound deal by the British weapons maker BAE Systems to sell Riyadh 48 new Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets.

It would also delay shipments of Meteor air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia developed by MBDA, an arms making company jointly owned by France’s Airbus, BAE Systems and Italy’s Leonardo. German companies are charged with producing the missiles’ propulsion system and warheads.

Hunt further warned that the decision could cost the German military industry around 2.3 billion euros by 2026.

The German ban, however, does not include previously authorized contracts.

Last year alone, Berlin approved 400 million euros of exports to the oil-rich country which makes Saudi Arabia the second-biggest purchaser of German arms after Algeria.

The UK, on the other hand, has licensed over £4.7 billion worth of arms exports, including missiles and fighter jets, to Riyadh since the deadly war on Yemen began in 2015.

London has so far rejected international calls for a ban on the weapons sales despite the growing humanitarian disaster in Yemen.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May and other British officials are planning to expand military deals with Saudi Arabia and other repressive Arab regimes as a source of income after leaving the European Union [EU].

Overall, European countries have approved arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE worth more than $86.7 billion since 2015, the year the two oil-rich Middle Eastern allies launched an all-out war against the impoverished people of Yemen, according to the online news outlet Middle East Eye.

Their contribution in aid to the impoverished nation which faces a devastating Saudi war and blockade amounts to just two percent of their revenues from the arms sales, the website reported in November.

Comments