A lion's share of those exports — worth some 4.3 billion euros — went to Egypt, the dpa news agency reported, citing the Economy Ministry's response to a query by the Linke party. Cairo had reportedly secured only 180 million euros worth of German military supplies as of late November.
The news agency said that outgoing Economy Minister Peter Altmaier briefed the parliament on the sale of three warships and 16 air defense systems to Egypt a day before Merkel's deputy in the interim government, Olaf Scholz, was sworn in as chancellor on December 8, although he did not name the price tag.
Germany approved arms deals to the tune of 8 billion euros in 2019. The largest share of military exports went to Hungary, followed by Egypt and the United States.