Despite a different coalition agreement, the federal government wants to deliver Eurofighter to Saudi Arabia. Chancellor Scholz supports the Foreign Minister’s corresponding plans. The reason is the role of the Saudis in the Gaza war.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) supports plans not to further block the delivery of Eurofighter fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. Scholz shares Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s assessment that Saudi Arabia is taking a “very constructive stance” towards Israel in the Middle East conflict, said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. He referred to information that the Saudi Arabian Air Force had, among other things, shot down rockets fired at Israel by the Houthi rebels in Yemen using Eurofighters.
During her visit to Israel on Sunday, Baerbock said that the federal government would no longer “oppose” the British desire to build and deliver Eurofighter jets to Saudi Arabia. By launching Houthi missiles, Saudi Arabia is making a significant contribution to Israel’s security and is containing the risk of a regional conflagration, said the Green politician after talks with Israel’s President Izchak Herzog and the new Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
In their coalition agreement, the SPD, Greens and FDP had actually agreed not to approve any military equipment to states that were directly involved in the war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia is supporting the government there in the fight against the Houthi rebels, who in turn are supporting the radical Islamic Hamas in the Middle East war.
Criticism from parts of the Greens
Baerbock was criticized from within his own party. Green Party co-leader Ricarda Lang, for example, said rbb: “With a view to the human rights situation, also to the internal constitution of Saudi Arabia, I still think it is wrong to deliver Eurofighters. I think it would be right if we stick to the position that no Eurofighters will be delivered to Saudi Arabia.”
The Green Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck also admitted that the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia still “does not meet our standards at all.” In this respect, the situation is ambivalent, but different than it was five or six years ago. Saudi Arabian defense missiles are currently also protecting Israel. The peace processes in the region also depend on “Saudi Arabia taking a favorable stance towards Israel – and that’s what they want to do,” said Habeck.
Union demands clarity from the Greens
Words of praise for the traffic light’s change of course regarding the Eurofighter come from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. “Saudi Arabia is an important security partner in the region,” said deputy group leader Johann David Wadephul to the dpa news agency. With its hesitation, the federal government has increasingly maneuvered itself into the sidelines in terms of security policy, alliance policy and European policy. Frustration arose not only among important partners in the region, but also in NATO and the EU. “It is important that the Greens finally shake themselves up on this issue and remove any remaining doubts about reliability,” said Wadephul.
The fighter jets are a European joint project in which Germany is involved and therefore has veto rights over export decisions. They are manufactured in Great Britain, which would be ready to deliver to Saudi Arabia.
Dagdelen: “More moral oath of revelation”
Clear criticism comes from Bundestag member Sevim Dagdelen. “The delivery of the Eurofighter to Saudi Arabia is a political and moral oath of revelation by the federal government,” said the politician, who belongs to the newly founded “Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht” party.
With a view to the traffic light agreements in the coalition agreement, she said that the “fatal decision” was “massive electoral fraud – even the unworthy attempts at justification do not help.” Dagdelen was a member of the Left Party until the fall.
Philip Brost, ARD Berlin, tagesschau, January 8th, 2024 3:00 p.m