Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wants to advocate joint arms export control at European level.
Berlin – After the extensive permits for war weapons exports immediately before the change of government, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is pushing for stricter rules for such exports.
“As a coalition, we have made it clear that we are reviewing the arms export policy of the past few years,” said the Green politician of the German Press Agency. “That is why we are working on an arms export control law that makes it clearer which criteria are used to approve arms exports.”
The former federal government of the Union and the SPD approved arms exports worth almost five billion euros in the last nine days of their term in office. This means that the total volume of export permits has risen to a record over nine billion euros in the current year.
Recipient countries
Number one among the recipient countries is by far Egypt, which has been criticized for human rights violations and its involvement in the conflicts in Yemen and Libya. The government of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and her then Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) approved the sale of three warships and 16 air defense systems to the North African country shortly before the handover on December 8th.
The new coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP now wants to curb arms exports to such so-called third countries outside of the EU and NATO. In order to enable more effective control, a law is to be introduced. So far there are only political guidelines for the approval of arms exports.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs under the Greens Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck is currently responsible for the issue. For years, however, there has been a debate as to whether the subject might not be better dealt with in the Foreign Ministry. Baerbock did not take a clear position on this question. However, she pointed out that arms exports cannot be viewed in purely economic terms. “It is also a question of foreign policy, of human rights, of international relations.”
Baerbock also wants to advocate joint arms export control at European level. But that was “a thick board,” she admitted. Countries like France are nowhere near as strict as Germany when it comes to approving arms exports. dpa
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