Arms deliveries to 2018: Germany exported much less weapons

The Federal government has approved of 2018 almost a quarter less arms exports than in the previous year. The total value fell by 22.7 per cent from 6,242 billion euros to 4,824 billion euros. In the case of the controversial deliveries to countries outside the European Union and Nato, the decline even amounted to nearly one-third (32.8 percent). The response of the Ministry of economy to a request from the Green party member of Parliament Omid Nouripour, which is present the German press Agency.

The German armaments industry must accept in order for the third year in a row a decrease in the export permits. A growth there in 2015, then to a record level of 7,86 billion euros. Since then it goes downhill.

The Federation of German security and defence industry (BDSV) had led to the Trend earlier in December, at least in part to the “unpredictable” and for customers and partners countries “by surprising twists and turns often are not comprehensible to the” arms export policy of the Federal government.

industry is considering damage claims

The German approval practice is much more restrained than the one of the most important allies of America, France and the United Kingdom. So, the Federal government had stopped as a reaction to the scandal of the killing of the government is critical of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi all arms exports to Saudi Arabia – already approved. No other major arms exporter in the EU or Nato, followed the example.