Just a few days before the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, MEPs, along with representatives of the European Council, the EU and the European Commission, called on the EU and its Member States to do more, particularly on the military front, during the plenary session debates on Tuesday 6 February.
“The courage and determination of Ukrainians have their limits. Ammunition and financial support is needed to win the war”, summed up Pedro Marques (S&D, Portuguese).
“The Ukrainians need more weapons, especially ammunition, and we need to be quicker (...)”, said Manfred Weber (EPP, German). He believes the end of the war will only come with weapons: “Only weapons will shorten this war, only weapons will say ‘stop’ to Putin”.
Many MEPs condemned the lack of military support, including Nathalie Loiseau (Renew Europe, French), who pointed out that the eighth tranche of the European Peace Facility (EPF) was still blocked, “the future of the EPF [was] uncertain - nothing has yet been decided and no funding clarified” and “the ammunitions plan [was] not living up to its promises”. “Instead of taking the expected decisions and taking action, our countries are accusing each other of not doing enough, when we should all be doing much more and much more quickly”, she added.
For Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel (Greens/EFA, German), “this year, Ukraine must be able to reclaim its airspace, but this is only possible if Ukraine has our support”.
Several MEPs, including Michael Gahler (EPP, German), supported Estonia’s proposal that all Member States should spend the equivalent of 0.25% of their GDP on military support for Ukraine. “We have explained that we will stand by Ukraine for as long as necessary, but this will depend on how much we are prepared to spend and how quickly”, added Sven Mikser (S&D, Estonian). In his view, if all Member States and the transatlantic partners contributed 0.25% of their GDP to the “war effort”, “we could end this war”.
MEPs, like European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, stressed that military support for Ukraine would also require a strong European defence industry. “We must do more than just speed up the delivery of ammunition. When we look to the future, we must consider Ukraine’s defence capabilities as part of our own defence capabilities, and the Ukrainian defence industry as part of our own defence industry”, emphasised Ms von der Leyen.
For Rasa Juknevičienė (EPP, Lithuanian), “we need to get our act together on security, we need a Europe of defence, it is essential”. “We must all realise that we need a European defence pillar; this will be a central issue for the next few years”, confirmed the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
Several MEPs also called on the EU to move more quickly on the use of the €200 billion of Russian assets frozen in the Union.
While welcoming the agreement reached on the €50 billion ‘Ukraine Facility’, Pedro Marques pointed out that the funds had not yet been disbursed. “We need a rapid agreement to support the Ukrainians, so that what we announce is followed by the money promised, which is still not available”, he stressed. “Significant payments” could be made as early as “March”, according to Ms von der Leyen.
Mr Michel made a “solemn appeal” to the House of Representatives for the United States to quickly release the $60 billion “needed to guarantee Ukraine’s financial stability”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)