In a joint letter published on Tuesday 16 January, the leaders of the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and ECR groups in the European Parliament urged “the European Council and the European Member States to live up to their promises, ensure effective and sustainable long-term military support to Ukraine and the defence of the Union”.
For these leaders, the European Council should take “decisive action to increase the production, joint procurement and delivery of weapons and ammunition necessary for Ukraine”.
The five political groups are also calling on the Europeans to provide Ukraine with the economic and financial support needed to maintain vital services for Ukrainian citizens and ensure economic and social recovery from the war of aggression provoked by Russia, in particular through the adoption - as a matter of urgency - of a new multiannual macro-financial assistance package for Ukraine of up to €50 billion.
During a plenary session debate on Tuesday, many MEPs called for European military support for Ukraine to be stepped up. “Ukraine needs ammunition and weapons, and we are constantly telling them so”, said Pedro Marques (S&D, Portuguese), who also warned against a possible withdrawal of American support.
Anna Fotyga (ECR, Polish) felt that the efforts made so far were insufficient. “Ukraine needs massive support in terms of arms and munitions”, she said, urging Member States to show the political will to increase their support.
“It is scandalous that our defence capabilities have not been strengthened so that we can counter Russia’s will”, stressed Michael Gahler (EPP, German), arguing that Member States should place long-term orders and give priority to production for Ukraine.
Jaak Madison (ID, Estonian) regretted that the European economies were working at a normal pace while Russia was working at a wartime pace. “To defeat Russia, support must far exceed Russia’s military spending”, added Petras Auštrevičius (Renew Europe, Lithuanian). This is not the case, he lamented.
“Every shell or projectile produced for Ukraine is an investment in our own security”, explained Germany’s Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel on behalf of the Greens/EFA group.
Several MEPs, such as Özlem Demirel (The Left, German), also reiterated the need to work towards a political solution to the conflict. “We need to talk about peace, not armaments”, added Milan Uhrík (non-attached, Slovakian).
The Belgian Minister for Foreign Affaits, Hadja Lahbib, speaking on behalf of the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council, recalled that the EU and its Member States had so far spent around €27 billion on military support for Ukraine. “More than 300,000 ground-to-ground artillery shells and 3,300 missiles have been delivered from existing stocks and the reprioritisation of orders”, she added. Joint orders have also been placed for at least 180,000 artillery shells. Ms Lahbib added that the Act in Support of Ammunition Production “will begin to produce results this year”. In addition, the EU’s military assistance mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM) has already trained more than 39,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
See the letter from the chairs and co-chairs of the five political groups: https://aeur.eu/f/aee (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)