Refueling of a Eurofighter during a patrol flight over Lithuania, recording made available by the Bundeswehr.
(Photo: Rohlfing/dpa)
The controversial delivery of fighter jets of the type Eurofighter to Saudi Arabia, according to information Süddeutsche Zeitung off the table. This is the result of a written “understanding” within the federal government that the SZ has received. “Applications for export licenses for Saudi Arabia will be deferred until the end of the Yemen war,” it said.
This settles a dispute that has been smoldering in the traffic light coalition for months about the interpretation of a wording in the coalition agreement between the SPD, FDP and Greens. “We do not issue export licenses for armaments to states as long as they are demonstrably directly involved in the Yemen war,” it was stated there. That was aimed at Saudi Arabia, but also at the United Arab Emirates, among others.
détente in the region
According to the “understanding”, the federal government now sees the role of both countries in a milder light. A policy of détente can be observed in the region, which largely goes back to the initiative of Saudi Arabia. “The kingdom continues to abide by the terms of the ceasefire declared in early April 2022,” it said.
To the best of the German government’s knowledge, there have been no military operations by foreign states against the Houthi rebels since they expired last October. “Saudi Arabia has now credibly backed away from the goal of a military solution to the conflict and has been supporting the United Nations’ efforts to find a political settlement to the conflict for almost three years,” the statement said.
The United Arab Emirates are also “no longer directly involved in the Yemen conflict,” it is stated. They supported both the United Nations efforts for a political settlement in Yemen and the ongoing talks between the Saudi government and the Houthis.
Emirates can count on transport machines
The federal government now wants to take this “changed situation” into account, but does not want to throw the “Yemen clause” of the coalition agreement completely overboard. In the case of the United Arab Emirates, arms exports “should be carefully examined in each individual case, with special consideration of human rights, as is the case with other countries,” it said. However, foreign and security policy considerations, such as the situation in the region, should also be included. The “preservation and defense of the rule-based, international order” also plays a role. That should be an indication of a less restrictive line. The country can therefore apparently start with the delivery of six transport machines of the type Airbus A400M calculate.
In the case of Saudi Arabia, “an exception to this principle could apply in specific individual cases, depending on the armaments, for goods that are not relevant for military use in the Yemen conflict and taking into account a possible use of the goods for human rights violations,” it said.
Export licenses for community programs could also be granted “on a case-by-case basis”. However, consultations would have to take place with the respective partner “with the aim of arriving at a joint risk assessment with regard to a violation of international humanitarian law when using the jointly produced armaments”.
The background is the conflict about how to deal with such community projects. Partners like France accuse Germany of making such projects more difficult with overly restrictive export regulations. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and former Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (both SPD) had launched an attempt to approach their partners, but encountered resistance from the Greens.
Last week, the Greens member of the Bundestag, Anton Hofreiter, criticized the fact that the Federal Chancellery was exerting pressure to stop the export of 48 type fighter jets Eurofighter Typhoon to Saudi Arabia and six Airbus A400M transport aircraft to the Emirates. Such approvals are granted by the secret Federal Security Council.