'Tackling Saudi Arabia is possible, but it should not cost jobs'

"I am against war, against weapons, but yes, I am for jobs." An elderly lady on the market in the Belgian city of Herstal has to laugh at herself nervously. She worked for a large part of her life at the arms factory in the town. The factory, FN Herstal, has been in full attention again for a few weeks to its biggest customer: Saudi Arabia.

At a distance of just 100 kilometers from Herstal, Minister Blok is trying to persuade his counterparts that an EU arms embargo has to be introduced for Saudi Arabia. The country has been consumed by Europe. The war in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is party, costs thousands of lives and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Turkish city of Istanbul was brutal and unscrupulous.

Full weapon prohibition
Time to tackle Saudi Arabia, many find. The European Parliament voted last month with an overwhelming majority for a full arms embargo. The House of Representatives wants the same. And yet there is no such embargo.

That has everything to do with Herstal and other weapon factories in Europe. FN Herstal was once the pride of the region, with more than 10,000 jobs. That time has long since passed, but FN Herstal still employs some 1,300 people and the jobs of supply companies are still there. In the Liège region, where unemployment is high, it is an employer that they do not want to lose.

And so the burgomaster of Herstal, Frédéric Daerden, trivializes the arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia rather. "But a very small part of the Saudi weapons comes from here, and moreover, if there is war, you can earn better," he says.

It is what the market visitors also say: if we do not deliver those weapons, someone else will. And who won? The Herstallers in any case not. They would have lost their jobs.
If there is war then, you can earn better.

"I would be so much happier in a world where there is peace everywhere," says Daerden on the market, among his constituents. "But I think we're far away from that, as long as there's another weapon industry, I think the factory is doing a good job here."

This is how the European leaders also seem to think. Blok today proposed an arms embargo, but he knew in advance that it was a hopeless mission. "The British have a big arms industry, the French too, so the interests are different."

Hold handle

Belgium would still like to support a European arms embargo, but only if everyone participates. Other countries only want to participate if something happens worldwide. And so everyone has each other in the hold.

Mayor Daerden finds the discussion deep in his heart also a bit hypocritical. Now all eyes are focused on weapons, especially from countries that hardly have a weapon industry themselves. "If you really want to put pressure on Saudi Arabia, you have to be courageous and stop all trade contacts," says the mayor.

That would cost a multitude of jobs in many more European countries. And it would boost the oil price. There is certainly no majority to be found in Europe.