Disputes in Germany over the production of fighters for Saudi Arabia.
Despite London’s pressure on Berlin, members of the German coalition government are at odds over the production of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets for Saudi Arabia.
In a situation where the news is about the agreement of the German chancellor to produce the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter for Saudi Arabia, the internal disputes of the German coalition government with this issue have made the news.
The pressure of public opinion about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Arabia, on the one hand, and the war of the Saudi coalition against Yemen, on the other hand, caused Germany to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia in 2018, but now there is the news of discussions in the coalition cabinet in Berlin to produce The fighter has a story for Riyadh.
According to the Reuters news agency, the German newspaper “Volt am Sonntag” published a report on Saturday (today) about the differences in the German coalition government regarding the country’s agreement to produce fighter jets for Saudi Arabia.
This newspaper, quoting some informed sources who did not want to be named, reported that the members of the German coalition government have a difference of opinion about whether they should give in to British pressure and agree to the production of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets for Saudi Arabia.
In 2018, an agreement was signed between Saudi Arabia and the British arms company “BAE” for the production and sale of 48 “Eurofighter Typhoon” fighter jets, but this agreement was stopped due to the war of the Saudi coalition against Yemen. According to Reuters, “a third of the parts of the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet are supplied from Germany.”
Volt am Sonntag reported in its report on Saturday (today) that there is a difference within the German coalition government regarding the agreement to produce fighter jets for Saudi Arabia.
According to this German media, German Chancellor Olaf Schultz from the Social Democratic Party and Finance Minister Christian Lindner is willing to issue a license to produce fighters for Saudi Arabia, but the “Greens” party and some members of the Social Democratic Party are strongly against it. They are against this issue.
The German government under Chancellor Angela Merkel 2018 stopped the sale of weapons from Berlin to Riyadh after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist critical of Saudi Arabia. The sale of any weapons to a third party for use in the Yemeni war was also prohibited.
According to Reuters, following the establishment of good relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran and its possible impact on the war in Yemen, “the British have argued that Germany cannot stop the export of Eurofighter jets to a third party.”
German officials have not officially spoken about domestic opposition to the production of fighter jets for Saudi Arabia, and the spokesman for the German Chancellor Olaf Schultz’s office did not respond to a request by the Welt am Sonntag newspaper for comment.
