Another turning point: The Greens accept the supply of weapons to the Wahhabi kingdom and are concerned about its arms export law.

Refueling a Eurofighter during an armed patrol flight Photo: Rohlfing/BW/Luftwehredpa

JERUSALEM/BERLIN taz | A few hours after Annalena Baerbock arrived in Jerusalem, she was already back home with one ear. The Greens politician has to make hectic phone calls on Monday because things are boiling in her party after her announcement the day before: the fact that she announced a new direction for the sale of military equipment to Saudi Arabia on the first day of his mandate in the Middle East. The trip worries his fellow partygoers in Berlin because of their discontent.

Two transactions put the issue of arms exports back on the agenda at the beginning of the year: the federal government gave up its veto against Britain by offering the Saudi regime a new batch of jointly built Eurofighter fighter jets. The country also receives German missiles for anti-aircraft defense. A change of course after equipping weapons was taboo for Riyadh since 2018.

Hamas's attack on Israel and the new war in the Middle East have made the traffic light clarify principles again. This time the matter is more complicated, especially for the Greens, than in the first part of the “change” two years ago: the arms deliveries to Ukraine after the Russian invasion in February 2022 were a big step for the party, but could be justified in a manner consistent with international law and democracy. But the case of Saudi Arabia?

The federal government sees the regime as a strategic partner. The coalition has also long wanted to strengthen European defense cooperation, but considers that the hard line on joint projects such as the Eurofighter is an obstacle.

On the other hand, on other occasions the Saudis have been clearly singled out, and rightly so. There women are slowly gaining more rights, LGBTIQ people are persecuted and the death penalty also affects members of the opposition. Sometimes dissidents are killed abroad, as was the case with Khashoggi. In conflicts such as the Yemen war, the regime has ignored international humanitarian law.

It's a tension the federal government also finds itself in in other arms deals. There are plans for a submarine deal with India, aimed at helping free the country from its dependence on Russian weapons. On the other hand, the human rights situation there is devastating.

Restrictions on deliveries to inhumane states

“I can understand the geopolitical arguments to a certain extent. But there are limits,” says peace researcher Max Mutschler, peace researcher at the International Center for Conflict Studies in Bonn. “The Saudi war has been shown to undermine international law. The case shows how important an arms export control law worthy of its name would be.”

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In the coalition agreement, the Greens, FDP and SPD agreed to quickly introduce such a law. It should consolidate and strengthen previous regulations. The law would not necessarily reduce the overall volume of German arms exports; It should even include flexibility for business with partner countries. However, restrictions on deliveries to inhumane states were agreed upon.

In view of the current debate, the Greens are once again promoting the project. “It is good that the Social Democrats highlighted this joint project at their party conference in December, because together we want to establish a binding framework for future arms exports that protects human rights and is adequate to our democratic standards,” says the leader of the party, Omid Nouripour. to the cup

The party could sell the law as a success and present it as an argument against critics such as Left Party leader Janine Wissler, who said this week that the Greens are “at the end of their peace policy.”

However, implementation is difficult. Since the beginning of the war in the Middle East, times finally seem unfavorable for restrictive regulations. Further complicating matters is the work of the arms lobby, which is also well connected to the traffic light coalition.

Peace organizations are disillusioned

In autumn 2022, Sven Giegold, State Secretary of the Greens at the Ministry of Economy, presented the first key points of the law after a long struggle. The arms companies sat back and relaxed, but the peace organizations reacted seriously. A right of action for associations was ruled out. No matter how strict the new rules ultimately are, it would be difficult to enforce them legally. The German veto right on exports of joint projects such as the Eurofighter should also be weakened.

At least the key points provided for a “special importance” of criteria such as human rights and international law, as well as a stronger obligation to provide reasons to the Bundestag. In the future it would be necessary to explain in more detail than now why, for example, Israel's security could not be guaranteed without sending weapons to Saudi Arabia. But now it is not even clear whether these rules will come.

After the publication of the key points, everything was supposed to happen quickly, but almost a year and a half later the government has still not presented a bill. The last time Secretary of State Giegold invited a group of NGO representatives to an exchange was in November. But they have not experienced a new status either.

Last year only progress was visible to the outside world. The government has introduced a planned new regulation in favor of the defense industry (reduced requirements for exports to individual countries such as South Korea and Singapore) and implemented it in the form of a regulation.

The coalition remains silent on the question of why there is a deadlock. However, it was an open secret months ago that the Greens felt abandoned in the dispute over strict rules. Although the SPD conference recently spoke out in favor of restrictions, Social Democratic ministers think otherwise. At an event organized by the arms lobby, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that he wanted to make export policy more flexible through law, according to the specialized service Table.Media.

There are very few democracies

In any case, the FDP refuses to comply with strict guidelines. “If we want to protect our interests globally, we cannot per se rule out cooperation with non-democratic states like Saudi Arabia,” says its defense policy spokesman, Alexander Müller. “According to the Democracy Index, only 21 countries in the world are considered full democracies, so you no longer have much choice with your international partners.”

It is easy to imagine how laborious the fight is over the exact wording of the law on this border and, therefore, over the details that determine its effect in practice. Whether human rights are an “outstanding” criterion or only of “particular importance”, whether this applies generally or only “in principle”, makes a big difference.

After this week, things could get even tougher for hardline advocates. The other side won an argument: If even the Greens in the cabinet are in favor of arms exports to Saudi Arabia, why should the traffic light decide on rules that make such transactions difficult in the future? Whether the law ultimately contains even half of what was agreed in the coalition agreement is more questionable than ever. And now in traffic light circles it is considered possible that the project will fail completely.