European Union (EU) member states were urged to allocate €1,000 million in March to fulfill a commitment to supply “as an emergency” ammunition requested by the Ukrainian armed forces, diplomatic sources revealed this Wednesday.
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, in a document consulted by the AFP agency, recommends allocating 1 billion euros from the European Peace Support Fund for the purchase of 155 mm projectiles used by Ukrainian artillery.
On 7 and 8 March, EU defense ministers will hold an informal meeting in Stockholm, Sweden’s capital.
A spokeswoman for the European External Action Service told the Efe office that talks are underway on the joint procurement of arms and that Borrell will discuss concrete proposals with the 27 defense ministers on March 7 and 8.
The European Peace Support Fund, an intergovernmental fund outside the EU budget, made it possible to finance part of the weapons that member states provide Ukraine to defend against the Russian invasion.
The money will be used to reimburse states for supplying arms and ammunition to Ukraine from their reserves.
In his proposal, Josep Borrell proposes “granting a favorable repayment rate, up to 90%, if the ammunition is delivered before a certain date”.
The budget of this fund is supplemented by contributions from states based on their gross domestic product (GDP), with Germany, France and Italy being the top three contributors. Three countries – Austria, Ireland and Malta – do not contribute to the financing of the supply of deadly weapons and their contributions are covered by the other 24 EU Member States.
The community spokeswoman acknowledged that the work needs to be done “quickly” and that the EU has “tools and structures to build on”, though she did not give details of the ongoing discussions.
But he acknowledged that “to respond to urgent needs” the European Peace Support Fund could be used “to step up short-term ammunition supplies”.
The same source added that it is also necessary to look at joint purchases at European level to replenish member states’ reserves and maintain support for Kiev.
In recent weeks, Estonia has floated the idea of EU countries jointly buying weapons for Ukraine so that Kiev can defend itself against the Russian invasion.
The proposal is inspired by the EU’s joint procurement of COVID-19 vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 20 February, at a meeting in Brussels, European Union foreign ministers welcomed Estonia’s proposal to jointly procure artillery ammunition for Ukraine, while the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy began to prepare options for this initiative.
Borrell later added that the decision on the joint procurement of ammunition rests with EU defense ministers and asked member states to use their strategic reserves.
“It is urgent. We must quickly mobilize the resources at our disposal and we must act with what we have”defended the Spanish diplomat on February 21.
The European Peace Support Fund has already mobilized €3.5 billion and states have agreed to allocate another €2 billion.
Source: DN
