Part of the weapons arsenal ended up via the Dutch broker at a Maltese arms dealer, who offers the weapons for sale online. Last week, the Maltese trader advertised on Facebook with weapons “sold by the Dutch ministry” and “intended for the military police”.
‘Undesirable’
MPs fear that the weapons will end up in the illegal circuit. “This is at odds with the sales policy of Defense and at odds with European policy to reduce weapons”, CDA MP Chris van Dam writes on Twitter. SP Member of Parliament Sara Karabulut calls the practice “undesirable”.
Because it concerned “regular sale of small arms”, the House of Representatives did not need to be informed about this, says Defense. This is only mandatory when selling ‘weapon systems’, such as tanks and jet fighters. The sale was approved by a special committee, the Defense Materiel Sales Committee.
The department points out that it is not uncommon for weapons to be sold to trusted Dutch partners.
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