After reaching a record high in 2023, export licences for German weapons and military equipment continued to rise at the beginning of this year due to increasing arms deliveries to Ukraine.
From January 1 to March 27, the German government approved the export of military goods worth at least €4.89 billion ($5.31 billion), almost as much as in the entire first half of 2023 with €5.22 billion. Almost three quarters of this (72%) is destined for Ukraine, which is being supported by Germany in its defence campaign against Russia.
The information was released by the Economy Ministry in response to a question from Bundestag member Sevim Dagdelen from the Sahra Wagenknecht coalition, which was made available to dpa.
The most important recipient country after Ukraine was Singapore with €583.9 million. It was followed by India (€143.3 million), Saudi Arabia (€126.4 million) and Qatar (€97 million).
In 2018, the CDU/CSU and SPD grand coalition government largely halted arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia due to the kingdom's involvement in the war in Yemen and the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the country's consulate general in Istanbul.
Last year, however, the restrictions were eased by the coalition government when the Saudi kingdom withdrew from hostilities in Yemen.
The ministry pointed out that the authorized exports for Saudi Arabia "almost exclusively" concern joint projects with EU and NATO partners.
Last year, authorizations for German arms exports rose to a record €12.2 billion - including €4.4 billion for Ukraine. Germany also exported large amounts of weapons to Israel, particularly in the wake of the October 7 terror attacks and the start of Israel's ongoing military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
"The [coalition] government is driving German arms exports to new heights," far-left politician Dagdelen, who focuses on foreign policy issues, said about the continued increase this year.
"The excessive arms deliveries to countries at war such as Ukraine and dictatorships such as Saudi Arabia are a moral and political revelation."
In their coalition negotiations ahead of forming the current government, the SPD, Greens and FDP had actually resolved to curb arms exports and introduce a control law to this end. Then came the U-turn in arms policy with the war in Ukraine.
The self-imposed ban on arms deliveries to an ongoing war was revoked by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz in his "Zeitenwende" speech on 27 February 2022.
In the first year of the war in 2022, arms deliveries worth €2.24 billion were authorized for Ukraine, including air defence systems and heavy artillery.
In 2023, Leopard 2 main battle tanks were added, which the German government provided after much hesitation. Export licences for Ukraine rose to €4.4 billion.
This year, after three months, the export volume has already reached €3.54 billion.