06/30/2024 – 13:54
War in Ukraine and increased sales to Saudi Arabia boosted the arms industry’s revenue of 7.48 billion euros with business abroad in the first half of 2024 alone. Germany’s arms exports increased by 30% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period of the previous year, according to data from the Ministry of Economy released this Sunday (30/06).
Between January 1 and June 18, the total value of exports approved by the government was at least 7.48 billion euros (R$44.83 billion), or 60% of the 2023 total.
If the sales pace is maintained for the rest of the year, Germany should surpass last year’s historic record, when the country exported 12.2 billion euros (R$73.1 billion) worth of weapons – a performance that was mainly due to the war in Ukraine.
Of the export licenses granted in 2023, around 6.44 billion euros (R$38.6 billion) went to weapons of war and 5.76 billion euros (R$34.52 billion) to other military equipment, including armored vehicles.
The increase in exports comes despite the promise of the newly inaugurated coalition government of Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz to restrict arms deliveries, especially to countries not members of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The three parties that make up the coalition – Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Liberals (FDP) – were planning legislation to help with these controls.
Months after Scholz’s government took power in February 2022, Ukraine was invaded by Russian tanks. This moment was decisive for a key turn in the defense policy of Scholz’s coalition, which ended up shelving plans to restrict arms exports.
Most exports were destined for Ukraine
Almost two-thirds of exports in the first half of 2024 were destined for Ukraine, a record 4.88 billion euros (R$29.25 billion).
During the first year of the war, in 2022, Berlin approved arms deliveries to Kiev worth 2.24 billion euros ($13.43 billion), including air defense systems and heavy artillery.
In 2023, with the agreement to deliver Leopard 2 main battle tanks, export allowances to Ukraine increased to 4.4 billion euros (R$26.37 billion).
Germany is the second largest arms supplier to Ukraine, behind only the United States.
Since the start of the war, in February 2022, Germany has reserved 10.2 billion euros (R$61.13 billion) in military aid for Kiev, according to data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) – this The amount, however, does not only include arms exports.
Resumption of business with Saudi Arabia
The other four main countries purchasing German weapons were Singapore, with 1.21 billion euros (R$7.25 billion); India, with 153.75 million euros (R$921.51 million); Saudi Arabia, with 132.48 million euros (R$794.03 million); and Qatar, with 100 million euros (R$599.36 million).
Saudi Arabia returned to the top of the list of buyers after Berlin eased restrictions on arms exports to the Gulf kingdom in July last year.
Germany had stopped arms sales to the oil-rich country due to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, brutally murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Another reason cited for the export restrictions was Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the civil war raging in Yemen – Riyadh has since reduced hostilities against its neighbor.
The German Economy Ministry stressed that the approvals for the Saudi kingdom were linked to joint projects with other NATO or EU partners.
Left-wing parliamentarian denounces exports as “irresponsible”
The data was released following a request from German parliamentarian Sevim Dagdelen, from the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) – a left-wing populist party founded in January by the politician of the same name and former leader of the Left party –, and published by the German news agency DPA.
Dagdelen denounced the increase in arms exports to “war and crisis zones” as “irresponsible” and accused Scholz’s coalition of breaking its election promises.
Last week, Wagenknecht warned the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament, that the Scholz government’s arms export policy could “lead us, step by step, to a major European war.”
With information from dpa.
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