At the same time, the government did not approve the transfer of tanks to Ukraine.
The German government approved further supplies of weapons, including .h to Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Sudan, which are part of the coalition led by Saudi Arabia in the war in Yemen, reports the website of the Tagesschau program with reference to data from the German Catholic News Agency (KNA).
Last week, deputies from the government coalition rejected the proposal of the opposition Christian Democrats to put tanks in Ukraine. For Kuwait alone, the government in Berlin issued 14 individual export licenses worth 1.3 million euros between December 8, 2021 and September 13 this year, the chancellor's office said in response to a request from Bundestag member Sevim Dagdelen.
As for Egypt, there were three permits in the amount of about 377,000 euros. Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Sudan are also on the list. “These countries are participating in the war in Yemen as part of the coalition led by Saudi Arabia. However, the export of arms to Saudi Arabia itself is not approved,” the Tagesschau emphasizes.
As a representative of the German Ministry of Economy confirmed in response to an inquiry, any future applications for exports to Saudi Arabia will also be rejected.
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“Germany's special obligations to its NATO allies are being fulfilled. Within these narrow frameworks, as an exception, export permits are possible,” the representative added.
According to the government's response to Dagdelen, other countries of the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula are also among the recipients of German weapons. In addition to Jordan and Oman, it is primarily Qatar, to which the federal government issued 46 individual export licenses worth 20.7 million euros.
Last weekend, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) visited three Gulf states: Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
“The chancellor is backing energy deals with bloody dictatorships in the Persian Gulf,” Sevim Dagdelen commented, warning that this could pave the way for further arms shipments to the region.
As reported, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz named the reason for the refusal to supply tanks to Ukraine.
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At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expects the allies to supply artillery, air defense systems and tanks.
