On Monday 12 May, Charles Fries, Deputy Secretary General for Peace, Security and Defence of the European External Action Service, announced that the EU had so far allocated €3.3 billion to support Ukraine’s defence industry.
“We are the largest foreign public investor in the Ukrainian defence industry”, he highlighted at the 2nd EU-Ukraine Defence Industry Forum, in Brussels.
Mr Fries explained that following the EU High Representative’s announcement, on Friday 9 May, of €1 billion for the Ukrainian defence industry for “the production of drones and missiles”, “in the next two weeks we will be spending a further €900 million on arms and munitions for Ukraine” (see EUROPE 13636/2). This would involve the purchase of artillery and munitions, as well as reinforcing air defence. Mr Fries explained that the €1.9 billion was financed by windfall profits from frozen assets.
The European Commissioner for Defence, Andrius Kubilius, pointed out that, since the start of the war, Europeans had provided almost €50 billion in military aid, but that this represented only 0.1% of European GDP. “It’s clear we can and need to do much more. And it’s not enough to spend more. We need to move from a logic of aid – to a logic of integration of our defence industries”, he stressed.
Mr Fries, Mr Kubilius and the Ukrainian Minister for Strategic Industries, Herman Smetanin, all called for closer cooperation between the European and Ukrainian defence industries. The production capacity of the Ukrainian industry has risen from €1 billion in 2022 to €35 billion last year. According to Herman Smetanin, 30% of the weapons used by Ukraine are produced in the country.
“Ukraine can benefit from EU production capacity and financial resources. And state of the art technologies...But Ukraine’s industry is fast. Is modern. Is able to produce unique products. That is why the EU will also benefit massively”, explained the Commissioner. According to Mr Kubilius, the country produces “excellent modern weapons. Quickly, at half the price they cost here” and has a great capacity for innovation. In particular, Ukraine is at the cutting edge of drone technology.
“There is a need for Europeans not only to buy weapons from Ukraine and for Ukraine. There is a clear need for Europeans to buy technologies, know-how of production and of management systems from Ukraine for our own European defence industries”, stressed Mr Kubilius.
The Commissioner also announced the creation of the inter-institutional EU-Ukraine Task Force, with the first meeting of Ukrainian and European experts taking place on the same day, to promote the integration of defence industries and facilitate the development of joint projects or joint procurement processes. This new Task Force is also expected to work on the challenges facing industry, including the security of supply chains.
In addition, on the fringes of the Forum, Herman Smetanin and Jan Pie, Secretary General of the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD), signed a three-year renewable memorandum of understanding aimed at jointly promoting the common interests of Ukrainian industries and ASD members. They intend to promote cooperation and partnerships between Ukrainian defence companies and ASD members, and to facilitate the participation of Ukrainian companies in industrial consortia under relevant European programmes. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)