UN General Assembly
1978

217. The greatly increased volume of weapons transferred has become a problem of the first order. This transfer must be restricted by supplying and recipient countries jointly. The Federal Republic of Germany does not supply any weapons to areas of tension. Moreover, only in exceptional cases does it allow arms to be supplied to countries outside the alliance. The proportion of our arms exports to the third world is 0.2 per cent of our over-all exports. 218. We consider it intolerable that the world spends in the region of $400 billion every year for military purposes. This is a threat to peace; in a world in which there is much poverty and hunger, this is a challenge to reason and to our moral conscience. It is time that this money was released and earmarked for the economic and social development of all nations, thus also serving to increase the security of every nation. 219. International terrorism has become an acute problem of increasingly threatening proportions. It can be stopped only if all countries co-operate in a spirit of solidarity.