Germany, Saudi Arabia turn page on diplomatic dispute
German minister regrets that misunderstandings undermined ‘strong and strategic’ ties
Germany and Saudi Arabia have agreed to end a prolonged diplomatic row that prompted the kingdom to pull its ambassador from Berlin and punish German firms operating in the country.
The spat was triggered last November when Germany’s then foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel condemned “adventurism” in the Middle East, in comments that were widely seen as an attack on increasingly assertive Saudi policies.
The comments, which aggravated already tense relations caused by a moratorium on German arms exports to Saudi Arabia, led Riyadh to withdraw its ambassador and freeze out German companies, especially in the lucrative health care sector.
Gabriel’s successor Heiko Maas, egged on by German industry, had been working for months to resolve the dispute. Earlier this month, Berlin signed off on the delivery of four artillery positioning systems to Saudi Arabia, a step that officials say accelerated the rapprochement.
Standing alongside his Saudi counterpart Adel Al Jubeir at the United Nations on Tuesday, Maas spoke of “misunderstandings” that had undermined what were otherwise “strong and strategic ties” between the countries, saying “we sincerely regret this”. Jubeir welcomed Maas’ statement and invited him to the kingdom to intensify ties.
Officials told Reuters that the Saudi ambassador, Prince Khalid Bin Bandar Bin Sultan, son of longtime Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, was expected to return to Berlin soon.
After weeks of delay, the new German ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Joerg Ranau, is now expected to receive his accreditation and take up his position in Riyadh. “The Gordian knot has been broken,” said Volker Treier, foreign trade chief at the German chambers of commerce and industry (DIHK). “The optimism is back. Diplomacy triumphed,” he said. The dispute hit trade, with German exports to Saudi Arabia falling 5 per cent in the first half of 2018.