Arms exports: CDU politician defends arms deliveries, Baerbock demands control law

The CDU foreign politician Roderich Kiesewetter defended the approval of arms exports worth billions shortly before the change of government.

“The acting of the executive federal government took place within the valid legal framework.

That is why the critical voices of the Greens and the left are nothing more than crocodile tears, ”said the Bundestag member of the German Press Agency.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is pushing for stricter rules for such exports.

"As a coalition, we have made it clear that we are reviewing the arms export policy of recent years," said the Green politician of the dpa.

"That is why we are working on an arms export control law that makes it clearer which criteria are used to approve arms exports."

Record arms exports in 2021 decided on the last meters

It had previously become known that the former federal government of the Union and the SPD had approved arms exports for almost five billion euros in the last days of their term in office.

This increases the total volume of export permits to over nine billion euros in the current year - a record.

Number one among the recipient countries is by far Egypt, which has been criticized for human rights violations and its involvement in the conflicts in Yemen and Libya.

The government of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and her then Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) approved the sale of three warships and 16 air defense systems to the North African country shortly before the handover on December 8th.

What is explosive is that the government was only executive in office during this period.

It is common practice that far-reaching political decisions are no longer made during this phase - especially if the successor government might disagree.

Law should come

The new federal government of the SPD, Greens and FDP is now planning a reform of arms export control in order to curb arms deliveries to such so-called third countries outside of the EU and NATO.

In order to enable more effective control, a law is to be introduced.

So far there are only political guidelines for the approval of arms exports.

Kiesewetter called for Germany's security interests to be taken into account.

“It is in Germany's interest if the countries in the Middle East continue to allow their armaments policy to be provided by EU states.

It cannot be in our interest if these states are to be supplied by China or Russia in the future, ”he said.

"Then we have no further political influence in the region."

Ministry of Economic Affairs responsible

The Ministry of Economic Affairs under the Green Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck is currently responsible for the issue.

For years, however, there has been a debate as to whether the subject might not be better dealt with in the Foreign Ministry.

Baerbock did not take a clear position on this question.

However, she pointed out that arms exports cannot be viewed in purely economic terms.

"It is also a question of foreign policy, of human rights, of international relations."

Baerbock also wants to advocate joint arms export control at European level.

But that was "a thick board," she admitted.

Countries like France are nowhere near as strict as Germany when it comes to approving arms exports.