No more arms for Saudi Arabia, Germany’s new gov. assures

A German deputy government spokesman says the country will not export weapons to Saudi Arabia over its devastating war on its impoverished neighbor, Yemen.

“The coalition government agreement for the 20th legislative term is very clear,” Wolfgang Büchner said in Berlin.

The official stressed that there would be no weapons exports to countries that are directly involved in the war in Yemen, including Saudi Arabia.

The decision came as the new federal government seeks to take measures to restrict arms exports after they hit a record high this year.

For the period from January 1 to December 14, the federal government approved arms exports worth nearly 9.043 billion euros, compared with 8.015 billion euros in 2019.

The coalition government’s plans include advocating for an EU arms control regulation and a national law on arms export controls.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the United States and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi’s government back to power and crushing Ansarullah.

The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases there.

Despite heavily-armed Saudi Arabia’s incessant bombardment of the impoverished country, the Yemeni armed forces and the Popular Committees have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi invaders and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.