BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Lower Saxony, with almost 2.8 billion euros, almost a third of all arms export permits granted last year, is clearly ahead of the Lander. Baden-Württemberg, with around 1.9 billion euros, or a share of 23%, and Bavaria, with around 1.6 billion euros (19%), followed, according to the response of the Federal Ministry of Economy to a question from leftist MP Sevim Dagdelen. Next come North Rhine-Westphalia with just over 714 million euros (9%) and Schleswig-Holstein with over 452 million euros (5%). According to the ministry, these are provisional figures.
The statistics distinguish between weapons of war and other military equipment. With regard to weapons of war, Lower Saxony has the largest share of the Länder with 2.22 billion euros, or around 56 percent, followed by Baden-Württemberg with more than 709 million euros and Bavaria with nearly 521 million euros. According to the data, the federal government has authorized arms exports worth a total of 8.36 billion euros, of which more than 3.96 billion euros are weapons of war.
Dagdelen criticized arms exports: “While the population is footing the bill for federal government policy due to the economic war against Russia, with ever-higher prices for energy and foodstuffs, armaments factories can celebrate, especially in Lower Saxony,” said the MP. “Traffic fires are responsible for a break in the dam in the delivery of arms in the zones of war and tension”.
Authorizations for deliveries to EU and NATO countries, as well as Japan, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand, amounted to 5.12 billion euros in 2022, according to data from the German Ministry of Economics. If we add Ukraine and Korea, less than 10% of authorizations were for other countries./moe/DP/zb