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international.
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Norway’s reputation as a force for peace and good has come into question
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A controversy has erupted in Norway over allegations that the foreign ministry allowed the export of weapons to the United Arab Emirates until the end of 2017, despite “harbouring clear suspicions” they might be used in the civil war in Yemen.
The foreign ministry, which handles applications for weapons export licences, is also responsible for checking applicants comply with Norwegian regulations.
The Yemen conflict, which exploded into a full-blown civil war in 2014, sees Iran-backed Houthi rebels fighting against the government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition of Gulf states.
Norwegian broadsheet Aftenposten broke the story on 2 May, alleging it had got hold of a classified document from the office of the auditor general.
“Between 2014 to 2018, weapons and ammunitions worth 280 million Norwegian kroner (NOK) (€28m) were exported to the Emirates. It was first and foremost so-called A-material, i.e. weapons and ammunition suitable for killing,” the paper wrote.
“The increase coincided with the Emirates joining a Saudi-led coalition which in 2015 intervened in Yemen, where a bloody civil war between the government and the Houti militias was taking place”.
A few days later, on 4 May, the same newspaper argued the Emirates were also known for being a ‘free haven’ where weapons could quickly be sold on to others, and slammed the arguments put forward by the foreign ministry as “thin and tendentious”.
The claim relates to the period before 2018. In January of that year, Norway suspended the sale of weapons to the UAE over concerns they might be used in the Yemeni conflict.
On the same day, 4 May, Aftenposten also published a letter by foreign minister Ine Eriksen Søreide.
Eriksen Søreide firmly rejected the allegations, underlining that it was she who, two months into her mandate in December 2017, decided to stop exports of ammunition and weapons (so-called A-material) to the UAE on behalf of the government. She explained it was precisely a precautionary measure due to the fact that “the situation, particularly the one related to Yemen, was difficult to follow”.
She added: “Exports of defence-related material such as communication equipment, image and video equipment as well as electronic or protective equipment were also significantly limited.”
Eriksen Søreide further argued that, based on investigations carried out through Norwegian embassies, delegations and international networks, there was no evidence substantiating allegations that Norwegian defence material had gone astray and been used by the warring parties in Yemen.
Limited access
Nicholas Marsh, an expert on arms export and a senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, told me that the information provided was too limited to tell us exactly what material has been exported to the UAE, and whether it might have been used on the ground in this specific conflict.
For example, different types of ammunition are being used with different weapons, and it is impossible to know which ones, since “some weapons may be used in Yemen; others may not”.
Besides, there is no recent video or photographic evidence that would prove use of Norwegian exports on the ground. “It is a war zone, which means that there are inherent difficulties in journalists reporting,” Marsh wrote in an email.
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https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/norways-reputation-as-a-force-for-peace-and-good-has-come-into-question/
