‘Over the past five years, most states in the Middle East have turned primarily to Europe (and the USA) in their accelerated pursuit of advanced military capabilities,’ said Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. ‘Despite low oil prices, countries in the region continued to order more weapons in 2016, perceiving them as crucial tools for dealing with conflicts and regional tensions.’

 

Eastern and central European weapons have been identified across social media as being used in the Syrian War, and not only in the hands of the western-backed army, but also in the hands of fighters from Islamic groups. These weapons all have markings which reveal the origin and date of manufacture. Patrick Wilcken, an arms control researcher at Amnesty International told the Guardian, “at least some of these transfers probably breached EU, international and national laws.”

 

“The evidence points towards systematic diversion of weapons to armed groups accused of committing serious Human Rights Violations,” said Wilcken. “If this is the case, the transfers are illegal under international law and should cease immediately.”

 

So, now we have the knowledge that the EU is exporting weapons to the frontline of the Syrian war in the Middle East. Where are these weapons coming from, how are they getting to Syria, and what do these weapons mean for the ongoing conflict?

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From where to where?

 

Italy, Germany and the UK are the largest exporters of licensed goods to Syria, together (including offshore companies, for example, Germany has companies in Ukraine making weapons) they have sent a combined total of €32 million worth of licensed goods. Although, this does not include exports to neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia,  who are using their own arms pipeline to get weapons into Syria. Therefore it is likely the numbers are much higher than data shows.

 

While this is an ongoing major problem in Central Europe, on the other side in Eastern Europe it’s just as large. There is an arms pipeline that was created in the winter of 2012 which transfers weapons from the Balkans into the Middle East. Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech R., Montenegro, Slovakia, Serbia and Romania are regularly involved in this pipeline. These countries benefit from their participation in this pipeline and arms trade in general because in Eastern European countries there are less restrictions and the governments are more corrupt, which makes it easier for weapons to get out of Europe and into Syria. According to the European Network Against Arms Trade (ENAAT), several of these countries have had licences to export weapons declined, which means some of the exports would definitely be illegal under international law or international treaties.

 

Another factor that needs to be taken into account is that under EU law it is illegal to export weapons if the destination means civilians lives will be at risk. In an interview with Laëtitia Sédou, ENAAT EU Programme Officer, she said, “according to the data, one can see that since 2009 there seems to be no licenses given for exports to Syria, which is seen as the EU not supporting the war anymore. But in reality weapons from before then are still in use, and we know our weapons to Saudi Arabia are going to Syria. We are not sure how many other weapons we export have a final destination place in Syria.”

 

According to EU law, weapons cannot be exported unless the national authority has received an arms export license. These licenses are easily imposed, but not regulated as well as they should be. Beginning in 1998, there has been a European Union common policy that all arms exports have fallen under. In this policy, the exports are controlled by eight criteria including: human rights, armed conflict and the economic situation of a country. But the criteria do not determine whether an export license is denied or not - it is up to the exporting country to decide whether they fit these criteria. This already guarantees problems because of course the exporting country is going to put their economic benefit above all else.

 

ENAAT EU Programme Officer, Ms. Sedou continued, “Arms export licences, which are supposed to guarantee the final destination of the goods, have been granted despite ample evidence that weapons are being diverted to Syria and other armed groups accused of widespread human rights abuses and atrocities.”
 

A series of investigations by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) have brought to light multi-billion dollar weapons deliveries which have come through the Eastern European pipelines. These investigations have exposed misleading and potentially illegal documents which showcase who is exporting them and how governments are profiting from this war.