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Istanbul, Turkey – European powers condemned the murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, with Germany pledging to suspend arms sales to Riyadh – the world's biggest arms buyer.
"As long as [Khashoggi’s murder] is not cleared up, there will be no arms exports to Saudi Arabia. I assure you that very decidedly, "German Chancellor Angela Merkel said following the killing that has caused a global outrage.
In the United Kingdom, several Members of Parliament called the Gulf kingdom.
But will the European Union adopt a common position on the supply of arms to Riyadh for its alleged involvement in the dissident's killing in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul on October 2?
After weeks of denial, the kingdom admitted that the killing of Khashoggi – a criticism of Saudi Crown Salman Prince bin Mohammed – was premeditated murder.
Experts say European countries may not suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which has also been criticized for its devastating war in Yemen, due to economic incentives.
United States of America, the UK, France, Italy, and Germany.
Since 2010, the Gulf Kingdom has purchased military equipment worth more than $ 18bn from all over the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Governments of both the UK and France, the two biggest European exporters of military equipment in Saudi Arabia, said they do not plan to halt such deals.
"Nick Whitney, senior policy fellow at the European Center on Foreign Relations (ECFR)," said Al Jazeera, "There is no prospect for Europe."
"So I expect the European Union will be a lot of deploring, because that's what Europe tends to do," he said. "It 'deplores', and it 'expresses concern', and it 'calls for action'."
'Coordinated response'
Giovanna Maletta, research assistant in the dual-use and arms trade control program at SIPRI, told Al Jazeera that Europe will most probably have a major economic stake.
"Even before Khashoggi's case, it was difficult to achieve a level of control at the level of the Saudis," Maletta said.
"Unless the major European exporters will lead such an action, it is unlikely that it will be possible to agree to a response," she said.
"France's position still seems to be odds with the German one," Malette said, referring to French President Emmanuel Macron Merkel "What is the link between arms sales and Khashoggi's murder?"
Spain, Maletta added, had a similar political discussion but decided to continue its arms sales worth $ 400m.
"Maletta from SIPRI said," In the UK, Prime Minister Theresa May argues that the UK already has in place very strict rules on arms exports.
Whitney agreed with Maletta, saying that especially with Brexit happening in several months, the UK needs to deal with that with Saudi Arabia.
"The only decent manufacturing industry in the UK is left with defense and aerospace, so they're not going to be jeopardizing a relationship like this," he said.
Maletta added that the EU parliament motion urging action in the wake of the killing is non-binding.
"The EU Parliament does not have the authority to impose such decisions."
Commercial competition
But Marc Pierini, a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, said this is a case of concern for the country.
"The issue of an embargo on military sales is a difficult one, not just because of multiple EU countries involved, but more importantly because of the statement of US position that selling weapons to Saudi Arabia is a matter of commercial competition," Pierini, whose research Focus on developments in Middle East and Turkey, told Al Jazeera.
"Given the hostile stance taken by President Donald Trump vis-à-vis the EU on trade matters, a European embargo would likely be used by the US president to his advantage."
The US president has made clear where the US stands when it comes to choosing between economic incentives and human rights abuses.
When asked last week if the Khashoggi murder was sufficient reason to stop US arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Trump simply replied by saying "[it is] not helpful for us to cancel an order like that ".
Last year, the two countries signed a deal worth $ 110bn, larger than any deal.
For ECFR's Whitney, Trump's remarks that economic incentives for most countries, not only the US, are more important than the murder of a journalist in a consulate or the bombing of civilians in Yemen.
"It's one of the rare Trump utterances where I did not reach for the sickness when I heard it," Whitney said. "For once he was speaking the truth."
Renewed focus on Yemen war
Noha Aboueldahab, visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center, agreed, adding that she did not expect the UK or the US, to do anything.
"In terms of specific international actors, the country has the most sway is the US," Aboueldahab said.
The Khashoggi Murder of Western Countries and Saudi Arabia, but it has been brought to the forefront of the war in Yemen, where the result of the intervention .
Aboueldahab believes neither the murder of Khashoggi nor the renewed attention on the war in Yemen will change anything in the long-run.
"Given the long-standing relationship between the UK and Saudi Arabia, I think this will be a bumpy patch in the relationship, but eventually they'll go back to where they were more or less," Aboueldahab said.
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