On the evening of July 5, the Economics Ministry under the leadership of Sigmar Gabriel informed the Bundestag, lower house of
German parliament, that the Federal Security Council which convenes behind closed doors has approved the
arms deals with
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Brunei, and Mexico.
Saudi Arabia has therefore obtained the final approval for the export of the 48 military patrol boats it had ordered, while Egypt will receive a German submarine equipped with torpedoes.
The deal could include sending Brunei 900,000 rounds for machine guns, and Kuwait, Oman, and the UAE will receive armored tanks as testing models. Mexico, on the other hand, may import five German anti-tank weapons.
"In recent months, Saudis have used German weapons in their Yemen offensive"
The Federal Security Council had already reached these decisions over a week and a half earlier, but only key ministries and the chancellery were aware of the details of its confidential meetings.
The approval of these arms exports proves that the German government is willing to continue exporting weapons to conflict and high-tension regions. The main force behind this decision is the financial volume of the exports that would protect German companies on the global market.
The controversial aspect of the deal lies in finalizing the agreement with the autocratic state of Saudi Arabia, and the issue has become even more politically sensitive with the Kingdom’s intervention in the civil war in Yemen and its use of excessive force to protect its own interests there.
It has also been revealed that in recent months, Saudis have used German weapons in their Yemen offensive.
This issue has created a political divide in the German government.
On several occasions, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) Minister Gabriel has publically called to stop further exports and sought to prevent or at least vote against the patrol boat export license in the Federal Security Council.
On the other hand, the rest of the Federal Government views Riyadh as one of the few reliable partners in the region.
Despite this dispute, the majority voted to honor the deal that was negotiated with Riyadh in 2012. Securing and obtaining arms deals is always a long process.
The Saudis sought to obtain 48 patrol boats from the Luerssen shipyard back in 2012, and the Federal Security Council authorized the deal only in principle in 2013.
The government can always decide to stop the delivery if it chooses to take into consideration any developments in crisis regions. Needless to say, the Saudi offensive in Yemen has not been a deterring factor in the completion of the current deal.
