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Syrien
bombas sönder och samman, med vapen från bland andra EU, USA
och Ryssland.
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ANNA
EK/SVENSKA
FREDS
Rekordhög
vapenexport
Från
EU till Mellanöstern
EU:s
medlemsländer gav tillstånd till rekordmånga vapenaffärer med
Mellanöstern 2012, visar unionens rapport. Svenska
Freds är en av flera undertecknare av ett pressmeddelande som
skickats av samarbetsorganisationer i Europa den 28 januari 2014 med
anledning av EU:s publicering av vilka vapenaffärer som fått
tillstånd. (på engelska)
Samarbetsorganisationer
i Europa 28 januari 2014:
European
Arms Exports to Middle East reach record high in
aftermatch
of Arab spring.
The
publication of the “Fifteenth Annual Report on Control of Exports
of Military Technology and Equipment" reveals that in 2012
European Union (EU) countries licensed arms exports valued at €39.9
billion.
This
included a record €9.7 billion in licensed sales to the Middle
East, an increase of 22% since 2011.
Saudi
Arabia, which was the largest single customer for EU arms sales,
obtained licences for over €3.5 billion worth of weapons. Their
largest supplier was France, which accounted for almost €1.6
billion of that total.
The
increasing sales have come despite the Arab Spring and show little
change in export policy, with record licences in many categories.
It
was a record year for the licensing of small arms to the Middle
East, which were worth almost €265 million. It was also a record
year for sales of weapon firing equipments and ammunition to the
region, with the value of exports reaching €1.2 billion and €448
million respectively.
Overall,
4,705 licences were granted to the Middle East and only 100 were
refused.
Andrew
Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade (UK) said “The Arab Spring
should have been a chance for European countries to review how they
do business with the Middle East, but unfortunately this report
shows that arms sales to authoritarian and oppressive regimes in the
region have increased significantly.”
Despite
hostilities between Israel and Gaza in March and October 2012,
military export licenses from Europe to Israel increased from €157
million to €613 million, an increase of 290%. The majority of this
increase came from the advanced trainer aircraft Alenia Aermacchi
M-346 deal with Italy which was worth €472 million: in exchange
Italy has agreed to purchase military equipment from Israel for a
similar amount).
Sales
to Libya have continued, following the military intervention in
2011, and were worth over €22.5 million, and licences to Egypt
increased by over 20% to €363 million.
Giorgio
Beretta, an analyst at Italian Disarmament Network said “The
report, which has been published after a long delay and without any
public announcement by the European Council, presents several
problems. There is a lack of data on exports of weapons from some
countries, including some the major arms exporters such as Germany
and United Kingdom. Furthermore France and Italy, two major
exporters, have not disclosed figures on the specific categories of
military systems they have sold, making it impossible to know what
types of weapons they have actually exported. This lack of
transparency should no longer be tolerated”.
The
figures only include licences where total values are known, this
means that they do not include all types of licences, so the total
figures should be viewed as a minimum. The report reveals that the
major EU arms exporting countries are:
1.
France (€13.7 billion)
2.
Spain (€7.7 billion)
3.
Germany (€4.7 billion)
4.
Italy (€4.1 billion)
5.
United Kingdom (€2.6 billion).
These
five countries were the source of over 80% of EU military sales. The
report has taken 13 months to compile but campaigners are calling
for future annual reports to be published within six months. In the
EU Report, the figures reported in the Worldwide Total do not match
with the sum of figures for single states. Furthermore, in the
report, the sum of figures reported for Regions do not match with
the Worldwide Totals.
Wendela
de Vries of the Dutch Campagne tegen Wapenhandel (Campaign Against
Arms Trade) said: "This is a European Parliamentary election
year and we are urging all MEPs to show their commitment to peace,
security and human rights by ensuring that the report is discussed
in the European Parliament. They cannot let growing arms exports to
the Middle East go unnoticed."
Other
relevant figures:
•
In 2012 EU arms export licences were valued at €39 billion- an
increase of 5% since 2011.
•
Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were also major customers
buying over €2.2 billion and €1.5 billion worth of arms.
•
Of the 51 authoritarian governments listed in the Economist
Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index 2012, licenses were awarded for
military sales to 43 of them.
•
Weapons continued to be exported to areas of tension such as India (€1.7
billion) and Pakistan (€377 million). Sales to China were worth
€174 million.
•
The value of aircraft sales was a record €18 billion, with the
largest supplier being Spain and the largest non-EU customer being
Brazil.
•
There were 47,868 arms export licences applied for in 2012 by all EU
countries, and only 459 refusals. The report lists 27 refusals for
sales to Bahrain, 25 refusals to Russia and 24 to China and Egypt.
•
Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Greece, Ireland and the United
Kingdom do not supply data for the deliveries that follow licenses,
while France and Italy have reported total values only rather than a
category breakdown.
•
The Report shows also export licences to some countries under EU
arms embargoes (Afghanistan, Burma, Belarus, China, Eritrea, Ivory
Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia,
Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Zimbabwe. A small note
explains that “exports to destinations subject to EU arms
embargoes comply with the terms, conditions and possible exceptions
set out in the decisions imposing such embargoes” (p.8). In
particular, the almost €7 million of “ground vehicles” sent
from Germany to Syria regard “cross country vehicles” for United
Nations offices and EU delegations (p. 493).
•
Licences can be viewed on the ENAAT website www.enaat.org/export/licence.en.html
Signed
by:
Aktion
Aufschrei – Stoppt den Waffenhandel! (Germany) - Christine Hoffman
Campaign
Against Arms Trade (UK) – Andrew Smith
Campagne
Tegen Wapenhandel (The Netherlands) – Wendela de Vries
Centre
d'Estudis per la Pau JM Delàs (Spain) – Jordi Calvo
Rete
Italiana per il Disarmo, (Italy) - Francesco Vignarca
Swedish
Peace and Arbitration Society, SPAS (Sweden) - Linda Åkerström
Vredesactie
, Belgium – Tom Cox
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