Germany exports weapons worth €1.5b in 2021

Germany exported weapons worth €1.5 billion in 2021, the highest value since 2017, according to figures released by the Economics Ministry, reported dpa.

More than 60% of these went to countries outside of NATO, the European Union and comparable countries. Deliveries to these so-called third countries are particularly controversial because some of them have been criticized for human rights violations or are involved in regional conflicts.

The Economics Ministry released the figures in response to a query from Sevim Dagdelen, a lawmaker from The Left party.

Arms exports were up in 2021 for the third year in a row. Exports came to a total of €1.38 billion in 2020.

The ten main countries Germany sold weapons to last year were Egypt, Israel, Qatar, Turkey, Britain, Norway and the EU countries Italy, the Netherlands, Latvia and Austria.

Dagdelen mainly criticized arms deliveries to Turkey. "The fact that Turkey is one of the largest recipients of German weapons of war, despite illegal invasions of Iraq, Syria and Libya and military threats towards Greece and Cyprus, makes any invocation of a value-based foreign policy by the [Berlin] coalition government a farce," she charged.