Baerbock criticizes Scholz: spicy last-minute arms exports - and wants new law

Created: 12/26/2021, 1:10 PM

From: Andreas Schmid

Annalena Baerbock urges stricter rules for arms exports.

© Kay Nietfeld / dpa

Shortly before the end of the Groko, the Union and SPD decided to export armaments at record levels.

Chancellor Scholz was also involved.

Foreign Minister Baerbock is now calling for a new law.

Berlin - The former federal government of the Union and the SPD approved arms exports for almost five billion euros in the last nine days of their term in office.

This increases the total volume of export permits in the current year to a record value of 9.043 billion euros.

This is causing criticism in the newly occupied Foreign Office.

Baerbock criticizes Scholz 'arms exports: "Put politics to the test"

After these extensive approvals, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is now pressing for stricter rules for such exports.

"As a coalition, we have made it clear that we are reviewing the arms export policy of the past few years," said the Green politician of the German Press Agency.

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

Overall, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and her then Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) allowed exports of 4.91 billion euros in their last few days - more than in the almost nine months before combined.

Shortly before the handover on December 8, the government's grand coalition approved, among other things, the sale of three warships and 16 air defense systems to Egypt.

The North African country, which is by far the number one among the arms recipient countries, has been criticized for human rights violations and its involvement in the conflicts in Yemen and Libya.

The traffic light coalition now wants to curb arms exports to such so-called third countries outside of the EU and NATO.

Video: Arms export record - last-minute permits under Merkel

Arms exports: Baerbock calls for a new control law

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

Baerbock called for a kind of control law.

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

The Ministry of Economic Affairs under the Greens 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.

“Rogue piece” from Scholz?

"Criticism from the Greens and the Left is just crocodile tears"

The last-minute arms exports are explosive.

Because the Merkel government was only executive at that time.

It is actually common practice that no more far-reaching political decisions are made at this stage.

So that the successor government does not face problems.

The arms exports are particularly explosive because new Chancellor Scholz played a key role in the deal.

As finance minister, Scholz was part of the Federal Security Council and was therefore jointly responsible for approving sensitive arms exports. The left-wing foreign politician Sevim Dagdelen sharply criticized the behavior of the current Chancellor. "Olaf Scholz has done a real crook in the executive government and has impressively demonstrated how unscrupulous the SPD's criticism of unscrupulous arms exports, especially of dictatorships and authoritarian regimes, ultimately remains," she told dpa. "For the new traffic light government under Scholz this is a heavy burden."

The CDU foreign politician Roderich Kiesewetter, who defended the permits, sees it completely differently.

“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 can not be in our interest if these states in future supply themselves in China or Russia. "Kiesewetter pointed out to the dpa that the actions of the then executive federal government had taken place within the valid legal framework.

"That is why the critical voices of the Greens and the left are nothing more than crocodile tears."