Military know-how

EU wants to set up office in Kiev to learn

The EU wants to learn from Ukraine.

(Bild: AFP)

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the establishment of an office for innovation in the defense sector in Kiev, Ukraine, on Wednesday. This will bring Ukraine closer to Europe. Russian assets are also to be redistributed.

It is time to talk about the use of frozen Russian assets for the joint acquisition of military equipment for Ukraine. There is "no stronger signal and no better use".

War with Russia cannot be ruled out
"The simple truth is: we cannot afford to sit back. We have no control over elections or decisions in other parts of the world. With or without the support of our partners: We must not let Russia win," said von der Leyen. "There is no immediate threat of war, but it cannot be ruled out either. Our first and urgently needed task is to rebuild, strengthen and modernize the armed forces of the member states."

By setting up the office in Kiev, "all member states can draw on Ukraine's experience and expertise in the field of industrial defense innovation".

Production is being ramped up
Von der Leyen also emphasized the progress made so far in expanding the capacities of the European defence industry: European ammunition production is to be roughly doubled to over 2 million shells per year by the end of 2025. The EU target of supplying one million pieces of ammunition to Ukraine by March 2024 was missed.

Europe must provide more money.

Ursula von der Leyen

Bild: AFP

She emphasized that "the capacities of our defence industry must be massively increased within the next five years". At the heart of this must be a simple principle: "Europe must put more money into its hands." She confirmed that the Commission would "present proposals for a first-ever strategy for a European defense industry in the coming weeks".

According to von der Leyen, one of the central goals of this strategy is joint procurement in the defense sector. She cited vaccines during the coronavirus pandemic and natural gas as successful examples of EU procurement.

Focus on "stable contracts"
"But this requires a strong joint signal to industry. We will therefore examine how we can facilitate fixed purchase contracts or purchase agreements through guarantees. This would allow our defense industry to build on stable orders in the long term and at the same time give it more planning security," said the former German defense minister in response to frequent criticism from industry representatives who insist on long-term planning security.