Germany Will Not Deliver Eurofighter Jets to Saudi Arabia in the Near Future

Olaf Scholz, the Chancellor of Germany, stated on Wednesday, July 21, that the country will not deliver Eurofighter combat aircraft to Saudi Arabia in the near future. According to Reuters, he made this statement after a German newspaper cited a government document linking such action to the end of the war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia has been leading a regional coalition fighting the Iranian-aligned Houthi group in Yemen since 2015, a conflict that has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and left millions facing hunger. Mr. Scholz told reporters on the second day of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, 'In the near future, there will be no decision regarding the delivery of Eurofighter jets to Saudi Arabia.' A German government source told Reuters that Berlin will decide on this matter in 2025. The German newspaper 'Süddeutsche Zeitung' reported on Wednesday, citing an internal government document, that 'the request for an export license for Saudi Arabia will be postponed until the end of the war in Yemen.' Germany halted arms sales to Saudi Arabia following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. According to Reuters, Berlin has a stricter approach towards Saudi Arabia compared to its main allies like the US, France, and the UK. Nonetheless, since the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran earlier this year, the UK has argued that Germany can no longer prevent the export of Eurofighter jets to third parties. The British company 'BAE Systems' signed a contract with the manufacturer of these weapons five years ago to supply 48 Eurofighter jets, but one-third of the parts for these aircraft come from Germany. Reports published earlier this month indicated that the German governing coalition had disagreements over yielding to British pressures, with the Greens strongly opposing this action.