German-Saudi-Arabian relations

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German-Saudi-Arabian relations
Location of Saudi Arabia and Germany
Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia GermanyGermany
Saudi Arabia Germany
Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Berlin, Tiergartenstrasse

The bilateral relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Saudi Arabia have existed since 1954 and, according to the Federal Foreign Office, are friendly and free of tension. Some German non-governmental organizations , on the other hand, criticize the systematic disregard for human rights in Saudi Arabia .

The relationship between the two states was preceded by a friendship treaty between the German Reich and the Kingdom of Hejaz in 1929.

Much of the relationship is based on economic interests. The German government regards Saudi Arabia as a partner, as the country exerts a moderating influence on radical forces in the Middle East conflict . The exchange of arms and security policy has been the subject of public debates on several occasions. The first commander of Border Guard Group 9 (GSG 9) Ulrich Wegener worked as a consultant in setting up a special unit in Saudi Arabia after his retirement. In 2012, Saudi Arabia was the world's largest buyer of German arms exports.

Saudi Arabia has an embassy in Berlin and a consulate general in Frankfurt am Main . There is a German embassy in Riyadh .

Economic and financial relationships

In the 1970s, Germany upheld Saudi Arabia's moderate pricing policy, while other OPEC states were blamed for rising oil prices. Between 1980 and 1982, Saudi Arabia made loans to Germany totaling 23 billion marks; as much as no other country at that time. The Saudi-German Economic Investment Company (SAGECO) was founded in 1982 to encourage mutual investment. The German-Saudi Arabian Liaison Office for Economic Affairs in Riyadh (GESALO) is part of the global network of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry and aims to promote economic relations, scientific and technical progress and cooperation between the two partner countries.

In 2006 there were around 220 German companies operating in the Kingdom. The volume of trade between the two states was around eight billion euros in 2011 and grew to around ten billion euros in 2012.

In a survey in which 503 people from Germany took part, 60 percent of those questioned spoke out against further business with Saudi Arabia, as the human rights situation in the country was inadequate. 29 percent supported business relationships between the two countries.

Arms deals

In 2011, plans to sell German Leopard 2 PSO / 2A7 + tanks caused a stir in Germany.

In 1981 the armed forces of Saudi Arabia intended to buy weapons and Leopard 2 tanks made in Germany. In return, the country offered long-term loans at low interest rates and a financial stake in German industrial companies. According to the offer from Saudi Arabia, oil exports to Germany should be able to be settled by buying German chemical and steel industrial plants instead of foreign currency if the armaments business is established. The then Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and Franz Josef Strauss initially accepted the deal, but could not prevail against resistance from the Federal Government at the time and thus rejected the request, whereupon Saudi Arabia purchased tanks from the USA. In 1983, the federal government under Helmut Kohl decided not to deliver the weapon system to a potential opponent of Israel.

In particular, a request from Saudi Arabia from July 2011 to purchase up to 200 Leopard 2 PSO / 2A7 + battle tanks and several hundred boxer wheeled armored vehicles from Germany were critically discussed in public debates and referred to the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia , its undemocratic form of government and opposition to Israel as well as the participation of Saudi armed forces in the suppression of the protests in Bahrain in 2011 . The German government referred to the secrecy of the resolutions of the Security Council and stated that the Israeli government had no objections to the arms deal and that Saudi Arabia would play a central role in the fight against terrorism .

In 2012, the German government approved arms exports to the Saudi Arabian armed forces worth EUR 1.237 billion. This made Saudi Arabia the world's largest buyer of German arms exports. Exports included gun aiming devices and gun sights, equipment to secure borders and software for controlling missiles. On the part of the federal government, the exports criticized because of the problematic human rights situation in Saudi Arabia were justified with efforts by Saudi Arabia for stability in the Middle East and mediation attempts in the Middle East conflict .

In 2013, secret plans to sell up to 70 border patrol boats from Germany to the value of 1.5 billion euros also caused controversy. In 2013, arms exports totaling 360 million euros were approved.

On January 21, 2015, the Federal Security Council decided to suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia until further notice. Some export applications were rejected, while the decision on other applications was postponed. This was justified with the unstable situation in the region. In a survey in which 503 people from Germany took part, 78 percent of those questioned spoke out against arms exports to Saudi Arabia. 17 percent supported the deliveries.

Saudi Arabia has had a license to manufacture HK G3 and HK G36 assault rifles from the German company Heckler & Koch for its own military use since 2008 . However, in April 2015, Saudi Arabia handed over HK G3 rifles in support of militias fighting the Houthi rebels by dropping them over Aden Airport . The German Federal Government's Ministry of Economic Affairs then admitted that a “physical end-use control of the G3 and G36 manufactured in Saudi Arabia” was “not possible on the basis of the underlying permits”.

By November 2017, Germany had delivered arms exports worth 264 million euros to Saudi Arabia. After the 2017 federal election , the parties CDU , SPD and CSU agreed in a joint exploratory paper for a possible grand coalition at the insistence of the SPD on the sentence “The federal government will not approve exports to countries as long as they are involved in the Yemen war . “For the time being, arms would no longer go to Saudi Arabia. However, the agreement provided for exceptions. Deliveries were completely stopped after the killing of the Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi . The embargo was extended in March 2019 by six months to September 30, and in September by another six months until March 31, 2020.

Training of Saudi Arabian security forces by the federal police

In 2009, the European arms company EADS was commissioned by Saudi Arabia to deliver systems to secure a 9,000-kilometer border. After research by the television magazine Fakt , it became known that the Federal Police had been training Saudi Arabian security forces with 30 to 40 permanently deployed police officers as part of a secret mission for EADS since the beginning of 2009. A total of 79 police officers were deployed as trainers. The subjects of the training were guarding the border, deploying house occupations and searches, and dealing with demonstrations and riots. The training was criticized by the opposition and the police union , among others , because the Federal Republic of Germany was unable to influence the operations and procedures of the trained border guards, as well as the handling of arrested persons and executions or shootings due to illegitimate border crossings or could not be excluded from demonstrations in the Shari'a- based state of God.

No visa agreement was agreed for the mission, which is why the German police officers had to leave for Bahrain every 30 days and were issued a new visa in Riyadh after two days for re-entry. The police officers had no diplomatic passports and therefore no immunity, only their ID cards.

Attack on a German diplomatic vehicle

In January 2014, a German diplomatic vehicle in which two agents from the Federal Intelligence Service were located was stopped by motorcyclists while traveling overland in Saudi Arabia and shot at with AK-47 rifles. After the driver of the vehicle with the diplomatic license plate tried to escape, a chase broke out. The BND agents were brought to safety by a local resident, and the vehicle subsequently burned out. Presumably it was a kidnapping attempt.

Cultural relations

The König-Fahd-Akademie in Bonn

On April 2, 2006, an intergovernmental agreement on bilateral cultural cooperation between the two countries came into force and marked the beginning of mutual cultural exchange. The German Embassy and the Consulate General hold cultural events and lectures and present German music and films. Religiously motivated bans in the field of culture limit the possibilities of cultural exchange in Saudi Arabia. A cultural manager from the Robert Bosch Foundation has been working in Dschedda since 2011 .

For 2015, Germany was planned to be the guest country of the Saudi Arabian culture festival Al-Jenadriyah . However, due to the death of King Abdullah , the festival was canceled. Germany then took on this role the following year and presented its culture and economy in its own pavilion through German companies such as Volkswagen , Airbus and Herrenknecht and the state of Baden-Württemberg . The Goethe-Institut was involved in the design of the program. The German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited the country to open the festival together with the Saudi Arabian King Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz . Due to the recent mass executions in Saudi Arabia , the participation of the Federal Republic and Steinmeier in the festival met with criticism in Germany.

education

In 1995 the King Fahd Academy, financed by Saudi Arabia, was founded in Bonn and closed in the summer of 2017. She opened a branch in Berlin in 2000. German schools exist in Jeddah and Riyadh . 600 Saudi Arabian students came to Germany as part of a scholarship program run by King Abdullah ibn Abd al-Aziz . Saudi Arabian students also attend summer courses in Germany.

There are two German schools abroad: The German International School Jeddah and the German School Riyadh . One lecturer from the German Academic Exchange Service works at Effat University in Dschedda and one at King Saud University in Riyadh. The latter also offers a course for translators from German to Arabic.

Diplomatic exchange

In 1979, negotiations were held via the German Embassy in Dschedda for cooperation in expanding the Saudi Arabian intelligence service under the name “Project Monitor” and rated as harmless by the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

From May 29 to 31, 1976, the then Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt traveled to Saudi Arabia for talks with the then Crown Prince Fahd ibn Abd al-Aziz . The then Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud ibn Faisal visited the Federal Republic on 29/30. July as well as for a conversation with the then Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher on 13./13. September 1978 and for a conversation with Schmidt on January 19, 1978. During Schmidt's further visit to Saudi Arabia in the summer of 1980, he promised the then King Khalid ibn Abd al-Aziz that he would carefully examine his request for arms deliveries and informed him and Fahd during a visit on April 27, 1981, that Germany would not export them. The rejection does not lead to diplomatic resentment, but Fahd tried to talk again about this by stopping in Bonn on the return trip from the North-South summit in Cancun in October 1981.

Federal President Karl Carstens on a condolence visit to King Fahd in 1982

The then Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier traveled to Saudi Arabia twice within three months, and Chancellor Angela Merkel paid a visit to the country on February 4, 2007 in order to come closer to a solution to the Middle East conflict and to analyze the nuclear dispute Iran.

On November 7, 2007, the Saudi Arabian King Abdullah ibn Abd al-Aziz was received with military honors in the Chancellery . He met for talks with Angela Merkel, Federal President Köhler and Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The situation in the Middle East and developments in Iran were discussed, as the deputy government spokesman Thomas Steg announced . In the evening, the King's dinner with Federal President Horst Köhler in Bellevue Palace followed . The next day visited Abdullah together with Berlin's mayor Klaus Wowereit , the Brandenburg Gate and then carried in the Red Town Hall in the the city's Golden Book one. The king gave the officers of his police escort , provided by the Berlin police, a tip of US $ 24,000 .

In 2008 the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister, Prince Saud ibn Faisal, visited the Federal Republic of Germany. In May 2009, the then Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble visited Saudi Arabia and, according to the Federal Police, spoke about the “ Germany's support services for Saudi Arabia in the modernization of its nationwide border security ”.

In January 2010, the then Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle paid his inaugural visit at the invitation of Saudi Arabia. Chancellor Merkel visited the country in May of the same year. Another visit by the prince took place in February 2011. In May 2011 a delegation from the Consultative Assembly accepted an invitation from the German Bundestag . In March 2012, the German Foreign Minister Westerwelle visited Saudi Arabia again.

The parliamentary group for Arabic-speaking countries in the Middle East cultivates relations between the German Bundestag and Saudi Arabia. Michael Hennrich (CDU / CSU) is chairman in the 18th electoral term . Deputy chairmen are Gabriele Groneberg (SPD), Heidrun Bluhm (Die Linke) and Luise Amtsberg (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen).

At the memorial service for the death of King Abdullah ibn Abd al-Aziz in Riyadh in January 2015, Germany was represented by former Federal President Christian Wulff at the request of Chancellor Angela Merkel . Reasons for this substitution, which is unusual in Germany, were not given. In the same month, the Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, Ilse Aigner , also traveled to Riad and Damman with a business delegation from Bavaria to support Bavarian companies entering the Saudi Arabian market.

On the occasion of the German participation in Al-Jenadriyah and for talks regarding the Syria conflict , the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Saudi Arabia in February 2016. The visit met with criticism in Germany because of the mass executions that had previously taken place in Saudi Arabia . Norbert Röttgen , the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, had previously asked Steinmeier to cancel his participation.

When the German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen visited Saudi Arabia in December 2016, the question of her clothing was particularly emphasized in the media. Von der Leyen arrived in a trouser suit and refused for herself and her companions the veiled clothing that was offered to her on arrival and required by law for women. This was accepted as an exception by the Saudi Arabian side.

Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the Kingdom in April 2017. Before her arrival, the question of whether she should wear an abaya , as required in the country for women, was also discussed . The delegation announced that they would show respect for the religious sentiments of the visiting country, but not in this form. Merkel concluded an agreement for the training of Saudi Arabian military personnel by the Bundeswehr. In addition, Siemens signed an infrastructure agreement that stipulated that the company would support Saudi Arabia in an economic program. At the meeting, Merkel criticized the military intervention in Yemen since 2015 .

In June 2017, a 56-year-old cyclist was killed in a traffic accident with a Saudi Arabian diplomat on Hermannstrasse in Berlin-Neukölln. The 51-year-old driver was absolutely prohibited from parking a Porsche Cayenne and opened the driver's door. The cyclist was hit by the door and later died of his head injuries. The Federal Foreign Office then demanded a statement from Saudi Arabia. The embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Berlin told the Tagesspiegel : “It was with great dismay that we learned of the tragic traffic accident in Neukölln. We are in close contact with the Federal Foreign Office. On behalf of the Saudi embassy, ​​we would like to express our deep condolences to the relatives of the deceased ”. Criminal proceedings could not be initiated due to the diplomat's immunity.

In November 2017, during a visit by Lebanese Foreign Minister Djibran Bassil , the German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel described Saudi Arabia's foreign policy with regard to the Lebanon crisis as an “adventure” that would no longer be accepted. Saudi Arabia responded by withdrawing its ambassador from Berlin and sending a protest note to the German ambassador in Riyadh.

Reactions to the flogging of Raif Badawi

In January 2015, the Saudi internet activist Raif Badawi was publicly flogged for insulting Islam. The German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned the punishment as “cruel”, “wrong, unjust and anyway completely disproportionate”. The Federal Government's human rights commissioner, Christoph Strässer , called for Western governments to intervene and commented that “no government, no parliament” should duck back “if a person is whipped just because they speak their mind”. According to Strässer, every politician who travels to Saudi Arabia must use his influence “to campaign for Badawi on the ground - and to condemn the policy of brutal repression”. Amnesty International organized a demonstration in front of the Saudi embassy in Berlin, in which, among others, the federal chairman of the Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen party Cem Özdemir took part.

The SPD politician Martin Schulz , President of the European Parliament, compared the measure with the methods of the terrorist militia Islamic State . He said he could not tell the difference between a video of beheading on a social network and a state-run corporal punishment, execution or beheading shown in a public square. Saudi Arabia must understand: "You can only be a credible partner for us if these medieval, archaic methods are stopped".

Reactions to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi

After the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in 2018 and this was admitted for the first time by the Saudi Arabian side on October 22, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel telephoned the Saudi Arabian King Salman on October 25 ibn Abd al-Aziz . As the German government spokesman Steffen Seibert announced, the Chancellor condemned the act in the conversation and called on the country to “ensure a quick, transparent and credible investigation”. All those responsible would have to be “held accountable”. Germany is ready "to take appropriate measures together with international partners".

The German Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier supported Austria's demand for an EU-wide arms embargo against Saudi Arabia and announced that Germany would no longer deliver weapons to Saudi Arabia until the incident was resolved.

On November 18, 2018, the German government announced that it would suspend future and already approved arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia. In addition, entry bans were imposed on 18 Saudi Arabian citizens. These are directed against those involved in the homicide commission according to the Federal Foreign Office and three other people who are said to have been involved in the organization of the crime.

See also

Web links

Commons : German-Saudi Arabian Relations  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated December 31, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.amnesty.de
  2. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 31, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.igfm.de
  3. ↑ https://www.hrw.org/de/middle-east/n-africa/saudi-arabia
  4. ↑ a b c d Leo II to the first oil power? , The time of October 7, 1983
  5. ↑ "GSG 9 as necessary today as it was back then" - Interview with Ulrich Wegener, the founder and first head of GSG 9 ( Memento of the original from March 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , ZDF history  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zdf.de
  6. ↑ Saudi German Development and Investment Company Limited ( Memento of the original from January 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. partly english @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sageco.com.sa
  7. ↑ a b c d e www.auswaertiges-amt.de Federal Foreign Office Country information: Saudi Arabia
  8. ↑ a b c Unstable situation: Federal government apparently stops arms exports to Saudi Arabia , Spiegel-Online from January 25, 2015
  9. ↑ German tanks to Saudi Arabia? , Der Spiegel issue 1/1981, January 5, 1981
  10. ↑ Armaments deal with Saudi Arabia Criticism of Panzer Export , taz
  11. ↑ On Schmidt's attitude cf. Mainhardt Graf von Nayhauss: Helmut Schmidt. Man and doer . Bergisch Gladbach 1988, p. 395 u. 401 ff . On the advance of Strauss, cf. Frankfurter Rundschau 21.2. u. February 26, 1985.
  12. ↑ Arms deal: Germany wants to deliver battle tanks to Saudi Arabia , Spiegel-Online of July 2, 2011
  13. ↑ Saudi Arabia apparently wants to buy armored vehicles. In: tagesschau.de. December 2, 2012, archived from the original on December 4, 2012 ; Retrieved December 2, 2012 .
  14. ↑ Arms deal: Germany wants to deliver battle tanks to Saudi Arabia. In: SPIEGEL ONLINE. July 2, 2011, accessed July 30, 2012 .
  15. ^ German government is silent on the tank business. In: NZZ.ch. Neue Zürcher Zeitung AG, July 6, 2011, accessed on July 30, 2012 .
  16. ↑ Arms exports : Saudi Arabia is Germany's best arms customer , Spiegel-Online from November 19, 2013
  17. ↑ Arms deliveries: German government defends arms exports to Saudi Arabia , Spiegel-Online from November 20, 2013
  18. ^ Confusion about armaments contracts worth billions from Saudi Arabia , WAZ dated February 11, 2013
  19. ↑ Saudi Arabia wants to buy boats from Germany for 1.5 billion euros , Mitteldeutsche Zeitung of February 10, 2013
  20. ↑ German rifles in Yemen: Federal government admits loopholes in arms export controls , Spiegel-Online from June 12, 2015
  21. ↑ tagesschau.de: How the SPD wrested a ban on arms exports from the Union. Retrieved January 19, 2018 (German).
  22. ↑ Defense industry: Federal government extends arms embargo against Saudi Arabia . In: Spiegel Online . September 18, 2019 ( spiegel.de [accessed September 21, 2019]).
  23. ↑ a b c Doubtful use by the Federal Police , from April 2, 2011
  24. ↑ Federal police train security forces in Saudi Arabia from Tagesspiegel from May 30, 2011
  25. ^ Report of the magazine fact
  26. ^ Incident in Saudi Arabia: BND agents under fire , Spiegel-Online from January 14, 2014
  27. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from January 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / janadriyah-bw.com
  28. ^ Trip to Saudi Arabia: CDU politicians attack Steinmeier. In: Spiegel Online . January 10, 2016, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  29. ↑ Robin Alexander: Mass Executions: Coalition argues over Saudi Arabia policy. In: welt.de . January 10, 2016, accessed October 7, 2018 .
  30. ↑ http://www.taz.de/!5262909
  31. ↑ Files on the Foreign Policy of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1979 , Oldenbourg Verlag, 2010, page 34 ff.
  32. ↑ Rainer Hermann: Saudi King in Berlin Don't talk about peace, consolidate peace . faz.net, November 7, 2007, accessed July 26, 2018.
  33. ↑ www.faz.net Wolfgang Günter Lerch, Comment: Meeting in Difficult Times, November 6, 2007
  34. ↑ www.welt.de Michael Behrendt, Saudischer König: Tip from the king $ 24,000, November 23, 2007
  35. ↑ Boards of the parliamentary groups in the 18th electoral period ( memento of the original from August 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bundestag.de
  36. ↑ Former Federal President travels to Saudi Arabia: Wulff at funeral service for Abdullah ( Memento from January 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), tagesschau.de from. January 2015
  37. ↑ Delegation trip to Saudi Arabia with Minister of State Aigner - Newsletter International. Retrieved April 30, 2017 .
  38. ↑ Steinmeier in Iran and Saudi Arabia: Shuttle diplomacy between arch enemies , Spiegel-Online from February 2, 2016
  39. ↑ Von der Leyen with the Saudis: "I don't put on a headscarf and wear pants" - WELT. Retrieved April 30, 2017 .
  40. ↑ tagesschau.de: State visit from Merkel: Does the Chancellor have to wear a headscarf? Retrieved April 30, 2017 .
  41. ↑ tagesschau.de: Merkel in Jeddah: Bundeswehr trains Saudi soldiers. Retrieved April 30, 2017 .
  42. ↑ The Saudi Embassy expresses its condolences after a fatal bicycle accident . ( tagesspiegel.de [accessed June 15, 2017]).
  43. ↑ Saudi Arabia withdraws ambassador from Germany , t-online.de of November 18, 2017
  44. ↑ Steinmeier on the whip judgment in Saudi Arabia: "Cruel, wrong, completely disproportionate" , Spiegel-Online from January 24, 2015
  45. ↑ No more lashes? , faz.net of January 22, 2015
  46. ↑ Blogger Raif Badawi, President of the EU Parliament, compares Saudi Arabia with IS , zeit.de of January 23, 2015
  47. ↑ Steffen Seibert on Twitter . In: Twitter . ( twitter.com [accessed October 25, 2018]).
  48. ↑ Altmaier on the case of Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia - "There will be no arms deliveries" . In: Deutschlandfunk . ( deutschlandfunk.de [accessed October 26, 2018]).
  49. ↑ tagesschau.de: Khashoggi case: Germany wants to stop arms exports. Accessed November 19, 2018 (German).