Germany’s SPD wants to extend halt in Saudi arms sales despite Uk-french pressure
The Social Democrats, junior partners in Germany’s ruling coalition, wanted to extend a freeze on arms exports to Saudi Arabia beyond March 9, despite pressure by Britain and France not to do so and a risk of costly claims for compensation.
Rolf Muetzenich, SPD deputy leader in parliament, said his party would fight to maintain the halt in shipments of already approved weapons deals with Riyadh that Berlin imposed in November over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Reuters reported.
“We will push to continue the halt in arms exports to Saudi Arabia beyond the March 9 deadline, since the reasons for the imposition of the moratorium have not changed,” Muetzenich wrote in an essay published on Monday in the SPD newspaper Vorwaerts.
The SPD and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives agreed in November to reject licenses for future arms exports to Saudi Arabia, a major buyer, and imposed a temporary moratorium on deliveries of previously approved equipment, which is due to expire on March 9.
In November, the German government affirmed for the first time that there were no arms exports to Saudi Arabia allowed, including for weapons that had already been granted an export license.
Last week, Merkel declined to say whether the freeze would be extended.
Concerns about Saudi arms sales and a broader push to revamp arms export guidelines are dividing the coalition, with the left-leaning SPD keen to avoid further losses among German voters who are generally cautious on arms sales.
Large European companies, including Airbus and Britain’s BAE Systems have warned the issue could affect their financial performance.
A senior conservative lawmaker told Reuters he saw no easy way to resolve the dispute, barring progress in ending the Yemen war, which meant Germany could soon be facing millions of euros in compensatory claims from affected companies.
As well as the killing of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Riyadh’s role in the Yemen war has also increased opposition in Germany to arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Riyadh leads a coalition invading the impoverished country. The war began in March 2015 to restore a former Yemeni government after it resigned and fled to Riyadh.
The conflict has killed over 15,000 civilians and sparked a cholera epidemic and humanitarian crisis.
The German Economy Ministry said it continued to work with German firms to halt any arms exports to Saudi Arabia, but declined to comment on whether it had already received claims for damages. German media estimate the halt has affected some 1.5 billion euros ($1.70 billion) worth of arms sales.
Britain and France have urged Germany to exempt big defense projects from its moratorium on arms sales to Saudi Arabia or face damage to its commercial credibility. Germany produces components for various UK arms sales.
France and Germany have drafted a joint proposal for arms export guidelines to non-european countries, but Berlin has balked at making it legally binding, diplomatic sources say.
Western countries have provided arms and intelligence to the Arab states in the alliance, but have shown increasing reservations about the conflict since the murder of the Us-based Saudi dissident journalist at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.