European weapons are flooding Syria's battlefields

The European Union’s foreign policy unit said it was monitoring the flow of weapons to the Middle East and into the hands of Islamist groups in Syria, including ISIS.

A recent investigation by Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, OCCRP, revealed that since 2012, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia and Romania have agreed exports of weapons and ammunition worth at least 1.2 billion euros to four countries supporting Syria’s armed opposition.

The bulk of the deals, totalling 829 million euros, were made with Saudi Arabia.

Ms Kocijancic added: “We are aware of the reports on arms transfers from Europe to the Middle East, which allege illicit diversion of weapons to Islamist groups such as Da'esh, Ansar al-Sham or Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, and are looking into this issue.”

Arms trade and human rights experts said the diversion of these weapons and their use by groups suspected of committing war crimes should raise questions about the trade.

Read more http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/eu-we-re-tracking-balkan-arms-flow-to-syria-08-04-2016

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