EU Parliament Votes For Tougher Arms Export Controls After Weapons Surface In Syria

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th November, 2018) The European Parliament passed a resolution on Wednesday calling for tighter checks on arms sales by EU nations after reports that some weapon exports were diverted to terrorists in Syria.

The legislature voted 427 to 150 for the draft document that said it "is shocked at the amount of EU-made weapons and ammunition found in the hands of Da'esh [IS terror group, banned in Russia] in Syria and Iraq."

The lawmakers also urged to punish EU member states that do not comply with the commonly agreed EU criteria on arms exports.

The parliament admitted that EU-made weapons were sometimes used to fuel conflicts, as was the case with Saudi Arabia and members of its coalition waging a war against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The latest figures show that arms exports from the EU member states amounted to over 27 percent of the global total in 2013-2017, which would make the bloc collectively the second largest arms supplier in the world after the United States.