Fourteen NATO member countries joined forces with Germany on Thursday for the joint procurement of anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense equipment as part of an initiative dubbed the “European sky shield.”
This project, presented this summer by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, aims, in particular, to promote the purchase of the Iris-T and Patriot systems, explained German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht.
Germany is leading this initiative and has joined the United Kingdom, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania.
“Very good initiative”
All of these countries are signatories to the letter of intent sent to NATO during the Alliance Defense Ministers’ meeting. Finland, a candidate for membership, joined the project.
“This commitment is even more crucial today as we witness Russia’s ruthless and indiscriminate missile strikes in Ukraine killing civilians and destroying critical infrastructure,” he said.
France ensures the defense of the skies
France did not join this initiative. Its “MAMBA” medium-range surface-to-air defense system is already fully integrated into the NATO Allied Air Command chain of control. It guarantees the defense of the sky and the protection of the French units deployed in Romania as part of NATO’s defense reinforcement on the eastern flank of the Alliance.
French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu met Thursday morning at NATO with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov for an interview dedicated to assessing the needs of the Ukrainian armed forces. France has launched a fund endowed with 100 million for the purchase of French weapons by Ukraine and has formalized the shipment of six Caesar cannons, bringing the endowment to 24. Yesterday, Emmanuel Macron also announced the shipment for the coming weeks of air defense. systems
The Ukrainians have already used money from the French fund to order pontoon bridges to regain the ability to carry out counter-offensives, it was noted.
Source: BFM TV
