President of the Arab Emirates arrives: state banquet in Berlin despite atrocities in Sudan

epd | According to historian Roman Deckert, Germany's dealings with the United Arab Emirates are "a fatal signal" due to the atrocities in Sudan. The federal government has issued the UAE a “clearance certificate regarding its role in the Sudan war,” Deckert told the Evangelical Press Service before the visit of the President of the UAE, Mohammed bin Sajid Al Nahjan, to Berlin this Thursday. “The UAE is one of the main supporters of the genocidal RSF militia.”

In Sudan, the paramilitary RSF and the army have been fighting a brutal war since 2023 that has led to one of the worst hunger and displacement crises of our time. The RSF in particular is accused of massive war crimes. Last week, UN experts criticized the central role of foreign support for the warring parties and pointed to the UAE's help to the RSF with personnel and weapons.

Conflict researcher Deckert criticized that the President of the Emirates got the red carpet rolled out during his visit with a state banquet hosted by the Federal President and a round table with the arms industry. This is the “culmination of double standards”. The Federal President, in particular, as a moral authority who repeatedly works to uphold international law, should take a more differentiated look at the UAE.

Since the beginning of the Sudan war, journalists, analysts and human rights activists have been reporting on the United Arab Emirates' role as a supporter of the RSF. From Deckert's point of view, numerous independent investigations of money flows and flight data provide “crystal clear evidence” of these allegations, which the UAE continues to deny.

Germany is not alone with its position towards the United Arab Emirates, explained Deckert. No Western government names them as supporters of the RSF militia. Diplomatic circles say that one should not criticize the UAE openly, but rather must exert one's influence behind closed doors. “If politicians actually did that, it doesn’t seem to have achieved anything,” said Deckert.

According to Deckert, the fact that Germany despite everything maintains a strategic partnership with the UAE and concludes further million-dollar deals is also due to the fact that the Emirates have successfully presented themselves as fighters against political Islamism. The federal government’s decisions to court the UAE have “extreme symbolic power”. A Christian party in particular must respect human life, he said, referring to the Chancellor's CDU party. Arms exports to warmongers would have to be frozen instead of expanded.