News from Drone Wars UK, Rete Disarmo, Stimson Centre, and the European Parliament as well as updates on Poland, Greece and Denmark....

On the 24th of May, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres presented his initiative “Securing Our Common Future: an Agenda for Disarmament”. In his speech in Geneva, Guterres discussed the work to improve protection of civilians in armed conflict through new partnerships, and by building legal and policy initiatives. Prior to the presentation, numerous meetings were held with civil society organisations....

In our monthly press review, we translate, analyze and summarize news from various European publications on the issues of drones. April 2019 saw nearly 40 publications with different perspectives. From the prospect of a European drone fleet, to drones for good, to questions that still need to be answered, to a boycot of autonomy for military applications. ...

With the Trump administration announcing a new export policy on armed drones that lowers the bar for the sales to countries worldwide, it is more urgent than ever for the international community to clearly agree on what the acceptable uses of these weapons technologies are in order to increase civilian protection and prevent unlawful killings....

The first full scale model of a European Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) drone was revealed during a ceremony at the 2018 ILA Berlin Air Show. According to its developers, the primary mission of the drone will be intelligence gathering, surveillance. target acquisition and reconnaissance. However, the European Defence Agency also noted that de drone will be able to carry...

The last two weeks of April saw several important developments, such as the decision by the Trump administration to ease the restrictions on drone sales. There are also several drone-related events coming up in May and June. You can find both news and events in our latest newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/659b07f4293d/efad-newsletter-april-16-30 ...

Members of the European Forum on Armed Drones (EFAD) and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are deeply concerned by the secretive provision of assistance by European States to the United States’ (US) lethal drone operations, particularly in light of a dramatic expansion in US drone strikes and reports that President Trump has dismantled already inadequate restrictions on use of force meant...

In response to the weapon export policy released by the Trump administration on the 19th of April, several EFAD experts have given their views on what could lead to a significant increase in armed drone exports. In particular countries with poor human rights records, or those who wish to use them in secretive lethal operations, will benefit from these changes....