Europe parliament calls for tougher checks on Saudi arms sales

The European Parliament said yesterday that governments should apply tougher checks on arms exports to Saudi Arabia and other countries involved in the kingdom’s coalition in Yemen.

German EU lawmaker, Sabine Losing, who is leading efforts to hold EU governments to account, said: “In Yemen, European weapons are fundamentally responsible for the war taking place.”

“The Common Position on arms exports must be implemented effectively. That includes, among others, a sanctions mechanism,” Losing added.

The EU is the second largest arms exporter after the United States. In 2016, 40.5 per cent of the bloc’s weapons were provided to areas in the Middle East and North Africa.

Though the decision is non-binding, European countries like Germany and Switzerland have recently announced the cessation of arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other countries taking part in the Riyadh-led coalition in Yemen following the brutal murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside his country’s consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry also announced the freezing of arms export licenses to Riyadh following the journalist’s murder.

Read: In Saudi, Britain’s Hunt calls for end to Yemen war, Khashoggi justice

While all eyes were on Khashoggi’s case, Yemen is dying – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]