Wars cause arms exports to soar to record highs

The Ampel coalition originally set out to reduce arms exports. But then came first the Ukraine war, then this year the Gaza war. The bottom line is now arms exports amounting to 11.71 billion euros - and the question of how this development can be reversed.

The German government has approved arms exports worth at least 11.71 billion euros this year, setting a new record. The previous record of 9.35 billion euros from 2021 was already exceeded by 25 percent in mid-December. Compared to the previous year, the increase was even 40%. At 4.15 billion euros, more than a third of the approved exports went to Ukraine for the defense against the Russian invaders. This is according to an answer from the Ministry of Economics to a question from Bundestag member Sevim Dagdelen from the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance.

The figures relate to the period from 1 January to 12 December 2023, during which the Ampel approved the export of war weapons worth 6.15 billion euros and other military equipment worth 5.57 billion euros. Almost 90 percent is accounted for by EU and NATO countries, Ukraine and countries that are treated in the same or similar way as NATO countries in terms of arms export controls - for example Japan, Australia and South Korea. For other so-called third countries such as Israel, the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia, the German government released 1.76 billion euros worth of German-made weapons and other military equipment.

At the urging of the SPD and the Greens, the coalition government had actually intended to curb arms exports and introduce a control law to this end. Then came the U-turn in arms policy with the war in Ukraine. The self-imposed ban on arms deliveries to an ongoing war was overturned by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz in his "Zeitenwende" speech on February 27, 2022 - a breach of taboo.

Exports to Israel increased tenfold

In the first year of the war, arms deliveries worth 2.24 billion euros were approved for Ukraine, including air defense systems and heavy artillery. This year saw the addition of Leopard 2 main battle tanks, which the German government provided after much hesitation. The export licenses for Ukraine rose to 4.15 billion euros.

However, this is not the only reason for the high total value. Even without Ukraine, the German government approved exports worth well over seven billion euros. For comparison: in the 16 years of Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, the seven billion mark was only exceeded three times. In the ranking of the most important recipient countries, Ukraine is followed by five NATO countries: Norway (1.20 billion euros), Hungary (1.03 billion euros), the UK (654.9 million euros), the USA (545.4 million euros) and Poland (327.9 million euros).

Israel is in seventh place with deliveries worth 323.2 million euros - around ten times as much as in the whole of 2022 at 32 million euros. The majority of the more than 200 individual licenses for Israel were issued following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October, according to earlier information from the ministry. In particular, this relates to components for air defense and communications equipment. Apart from Israel, only one country in the top ten that is not a member of NATO is South Korea (256.4 million euros).

Record "bad news" for Nouripour

Once again this year, arms deliveries to countries in the Arab world were permitted on a much smaller scale, including the United Arab Emirates (78.2 million euros up to November 30), Egypt (40.3 million), Qatar (15.1 million) and Saudi Arabia (13.3 million). This is the result of a further response from the ministry to a question from Dagdelen. Exports to these countries are particularly controversial due to the human rights situation there and their involvement in regional conflicts.

Foreign policy expert Dagdelen sharply criticized the arms export record. "Instead of approving arms exports to war zones and areas of tension around the world on a piecework basis and fueling the senseless war of attrition in Ukraine with ever new gifts of weapons, which the population here has to pay for dearly, the traffic light should finally start making the necessary investments in infrastructure and education in Germany," she said.

Green Party leader Omid Nouripour called the new high in arms exports "bad news, because it also says something about the state of the world". The curbing of exports of weapons and other armaments originally sought by the traffic light government had not been successful, mainly due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. "It is essential that we now make progress with the agreed arms export control law," emphasized the Green politician. He welcomed the fact that the SPD party conference at the beginning of December had also decided to "swiftly implement" this plan from the coalition agreement. He assumed that the law would be passed next year.

Despite the new security situation, Nouripour advocated a restrictive export policy. He agreed in principle with his party colleague Anton Hofreiter's proposal to ban arms exports to dictatorships: "In principle, he is absolutely right." However, the Green Party leader pointed out restrictions. There were still old arms contracts with dictatorships that could not simply be withdrawn from.

There were also new needs for cooperation in other areas, such as the energy sector, which had to be taken into account in arms export policy. And there are joint projects with allies such as France, Spain and the UK, which have traditionally pursued a different approach to export policy. "There is no one stroke of the pen or magic wand that will immediately bring about a stop," said Nouripour. This is "a huge concern".