After the violent death of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Austrian EU presidency called for a halt to the arms exports of EU countries to Saudi Arabia. The death of Khashoggi is “very shocking”, but he is “just the tip of the horror”, says the Austrian foreign minister Karin Kneissl to Welt.
“Especially the terrible war in Yemen and the Qatar crisis must be a reason to finally act jointly as a European Union towards Saudi Arabia. If we together stop EU arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia, that can help to end the conflict,” said Kneissl.
On Thursday, the European Parliament had already advocated a European cessation of arms exports to Saudi Arabia. Germany already indicated, in response to the death of Khashoggi, that it no longer supplies weapons to Saudi Arabia. The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, however, excluded such a measure. He must “serve the interests of Spain,” said the socialist in the parliament in Madrid.
