News from Berlin – Officials in Berlin have approved sending aid to the Iraqi army, after agreeing to send humanitarian aid for the refugees. The Iraqi soldiers will receive armored vehicles, helmets, night-vision equipment and medical supplies. This aid comes in the framework of a concerted European Union effort to come to Iraq’s help in tackling the extremist insurgency.

The Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen declared that the general position of Germany is that of not sending weapons to conflict areas, but this position may come into debate in the event of genocide. Other politicians in Berlin have already called for the rule to be reviewed in the light of the current persecutions taking place in Northern Iraq. The Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier made public the possibility of sending weapons shipments to Iraq, considering the threat that Islamic extremists pose. According to him, he is “ready to go to the limits of what is politically and legally feasible” to counter this situation.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel, together with the French President François Hollande, asked for hurried efforts to help the refugees fleeing from the Islamic State militants. Human rights activists, artists and religious representatives have also called on the German government to provide more humanitarian aid for persecuted Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities in Northern Iraq.

News from Berlin – Berlin Global