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Exclusive: Airbus CEO criticizes German government over defense export block


    BERLIN (Reuters) - The chief executive of aerospace and defense group Airbus criticized the German government on Thursday for its restrictive export policy on defense goods, saying it could deter international partners from cooperating on future defense projects.

    "While there are lofty speeches being made that talk about more cooperation and consolidation in European defense, the axe is being swung at decades of Franco-German cooperation," he said in a statement provided to Reuters on Thursday.

    Earlier, French paper Les Echos reported that Berlin was blocking a contract for MBDA to supply an unnamed Gulf state with the Milan ER anti-tank missile.

    AIRBUS (EAD.PA)owns 37.5 percent of MBDA, and other shareholders are Finmeccanica and BAE Systems .

    (Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Writing by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Noah Barkin)