The EU states want to supply Ukraine with a million new artillery shells for the fight against Russia in the next twelve months. This was confirmed by several dpa diplomats today on the fringes of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
The ammunition will be delivered within twelve months, said Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur on the fringes of the consultations. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” says Pevkur. The money is to come from the Peace Facility. It is a financing instrument through which the EU already supplies arms and equipment and supports the training of the Ukrainian armed forces.
Germany: “We must act quickly”
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius wants to speed up the supply of ammunition to Ukraine. “We also have to act quickly,” he said. “The goal must be, in my view, that has absolute priority, that a significant number of appropriate ammunition will be delivered to Ukraine this year.”
To do this, Europe must pool its market power. “This is new territory,” emphasized the minister. Germany is in the process of opening up its national framework agreements with the armaments industry to partners. Denmark and the Netherlands have already expressed their interest.
The new plans are based on concerns that Ukraine could be short of important ammunition in the near future. In particular, this involves artillery shells with a caliber of 155 millimeters. The EU Commission and Foreign Affairs Commissioner Josep Borrell had therefore recently presented a plan on how possible deliveries could be accelerated.
Austria wants to replenish ammunition stocks through EU procurement
Austria wants to replenish its own stocks through a joint procurement of ammunition at EU level. “Of course, member states have to make sure that their own stocks are still sufficiently full,” said Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) today before a meeting with his EU counterparts. Through the joint procurement one hopes for synergy effects and lower prices, Austria would like to participate.
“On February 24 (2022, note) we experienced that the situation could change, that the world could become far more dangerous and far more confrontational,” said Schallenberg with regard to the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. “The wishful thinking that you can survive in this world with empty barracks, empty stockpiles of ammunition has been proven wrong,” he added.
Source : Orf
