Doubts are growing that the EU can keep its promise to send one million artillery shells to Ukraine. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius admitted on Tuesday that it was unlikely to achieve this target by the agreed date of March next year. “We have to assume that the million will not be reached,” said the German upon his arrival at the meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels, where he emphasized that the goal was too ambitious and unrealistic. The EU has already sent more than 300,000 howitzers to Ukraine, but as the war against Russia drags on and the EU club debates how to assure the invaded country of long-term “security commitments” – including economic support for the next four years , Brussels is trying to encourage industry to speed up production and demand that it prioritize contracts and deliveries to Kiev.
More information
“The question of whether [la cifra de] “A million was once realistic,” said Pistorius in Brussels. “There were voices that said: ‘Be careful, a million is easy to decide, the money is there, but the production has to be there too.’ Unfortunately, these voices are now right,” said the German minister, one of the most skeptical about the measure, which was based on a proposal by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. The debate comes as member states analyze their capabilities in the face of the Russian invasion to realize they need more conventional weapons and counter-drone materiel.
Meanwhile, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, assured this Tuesday that there is still room to achieve the goal. “Maybe we don’t have a million [de proyectiles] “But that will depend on how quickly the orders arrive at the industry and how quickly it reacts,” said the head of European diplomacy. “One way to ensure the million-dollar target is reached is for defense companies to focus on sending more ammunition to Ukraine and exporting less to other countries,” he said.
“It must be taken into account that the European defense industry exports a lot: around 40% is exported to third countries. So it’s not due to a lack of production capacity; is that they send their products there [otros] Markets. Maybe we need to try to prioritize production for the Ukrainians,” Borrell emphasized.
Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton assured defense ministers that the plans launched by Brussels to support defense companies had prepared them to produce the agreed quantities. As an example, he cited the increases in production in Romania, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria. “The ammunition production capacity increased by 20 to 30%,” Breton said. “Our goal is to increase our production capacity for the spring, now it is up to the member states to place the orders,” he noted.
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without restrictions.
Subscribe to
Follow all international information on Facebook and Xor in our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_