Analysis: Germany halted all arms exports to Saudi Arabia. It worked too well and now Berlin is looking for a way out.
By Rick Noack Rick Noack Foreign affairs reporter focusing on Europe and international security Email Bio Follow March 27 at 8:01 AM BERLIN — There are countries that punch above their weight, and there are countries that punch below their weight. And then, there are countries that aren’t quite sure in which category they want to belong.
Such a move would be more an acknowledgment of the fact that the halt worked the way human rights advocates had hoped, rather than an admission of the measures’ failure. Whereas analysts had previously dismissed the measures as being of little relevance given that France, Britain and the United States export most weapons to Saudi Arabia, the opposite has ended up being the case — mainly because of the close ties between the European economies.
So when Germany halted its exports to Saudi Arabia last year, it didn’t only restrict deliveries of fully assembled products, but also of exactly those components used by other companies. Abroad, the move was seen as a unilateral decision by the Germans that ended up forcing several manufacturers to halt exports to the Saudis.
On Tuesday, the French ambassador in Berlin, Anne-Marie Descôtes, doubled down on that criticism, writing that “credible export opportunities based on clear and predictable rules are an indispensable prerequisite for the continuation of our European defense industry.”
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