“At this critical moment, the European Union and its member states will accelerate and intensify the delivery of all necessary military assistance” to Ukraine, from air defense systems to missiles and ammunition, state the conclusions adopted this Thursday by the leaders of the Twenty-Seven , meeting in Brussels in an atmosphere of urgency due to the situation on the battlefield and after Vladimir Putin's “special nomination operation” – as the Estonian leader, Kaja Kallas, refers to the Russian presidential elections – makes us sense new Russian military actions.
Several countries have announced new donations of military material to Kyiv and, in parallel, the Czech Republic is leading a joint purchase of ammunition that it has located outside the EU that will allow it to send the Ukrainian army about 300,000 howitzers in June and about 500,000 more at the end of the year. . But beyond the short term, the Twenty-Seven have signed their strongest commitment to date on the need to “reinforce their defensive preparedness” and also increase the preparation of civil society for the new security context through an approach that takes taking into account “all dangers” with a “whole of society” approach, in the sense that the threats go beyond what was traditionally known as war and are manifested through cyberattacks, sabotage or disinformation campaigns, for example example.
The discussion on Ukraine began, as has been a tradition for more than two years, with the telematic intervention of President Volodymyr Zelensky. The ammunition shortage suffered by its army is “humiliating” for Europe, because “Europe can deliver more and it is crucial that it demonstrate it now,” Zelensky asked European leaders, applauding the proposal to dedicate the returns from immobilized Russian assets to arm his country, he channeled that money through the European Peace Fund, the mechanism with which the Twenty-Seven finance the sending of military aid to Ukraine.
The initiative, which will mobilize around 3 billion euros annually, has the support of the main European countries, although Hungary and Austria have asked for more time to comment. “I am sure that we will send a very clear signal” approving the plan,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “Putin has made a miscalculation if he believes that we will not be able to support Ukraine as long as necessary, the use of those returns is a small but important element,” he stressed.
“Ukraine acts as a shield for Europe. It is therefore our responsibility to also act as a shield for Ukraine,” stressed the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. The sense of urgency, of a change in the European panorama in the face of new defensive needs, was evident in the messages from the European leaders upon the arrival of the meeting, although their positions on how to deal with these expenses vary.
“We need to accelerate our support for Ukraine and, to do this, we are going to need different types of financing or at least be open to discussion,” stressed the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander de Croo. “National contributions will be needed, perhaps Eurobonds, financing from the European Investment Bank....” In this sense, the Council instructed the European Commission to present a report in June in which it examines “all possible formulas” to finance these expenses.
“Europe is a peace project and, to guarantee this space of rights and freedoms, we need to increase our deterrence capacity so that there are no temptations by authoritarian regimes,” explained the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to defend the need to strengthen the defense industry and European capabilities. Government sources, however, express their discomfort with the European rhetoric of recent weeks. “Talking about war economies brings echoes of the Second World War” when “we are not talking about anything so disruptive to the lives of citizens,” they point out. “Maybe Russia should transform its productive fabric, but not us.”
Sánchez, for the first time, explicitly joined the possibility of there being a “European contribution” along the lines of what was done during the pandemic, with the launch of a common debt issue. The Government, however, does not support the request that the EIB review its statutes to finance military investments and not limit itself to supporting dual-use technologies. “It implies a risk of reducing the credibility and financing capacity of the EIB for other things that are essential,” explain government sources, who recall that Spain is one of the countries that has the most credit with the institution. Portugal's Prime Minister António Costa has expressed a similar message.
The high representative of Foreign and Security Policy of the EU, Josep Borrell, agreed that it is positive that citizens are “aware” about the new security context but, he said, “we should not exaggerate either.” “War is not imminent. We live in peace, we support Ukraine but we are not part of that war. We must prepare for the future and improve our capabilities but we must not scare people. What is imminent is not war but Ukraine's need for our support. It is not about going to die in Donbas but about helping them so that they do not have to die under the bombs in Donbas or in Kyiv,” he summarized.
