The European defense industry should make a transition to a war economy. This is what the Ukrainian Defense Minister requested, Dmytro kuleba, speaking via video conference at the EU-Ukrainian Defense Industries Forum in Brussels. According to the Ukrainian minister, Russia cannot be stopped only with “political declarations”, but “superior firepower” is needed to allow Kiev to face the “race against time” against the Kremlin. “The current rate of militarization of Russia is the highest since Soviet times,” highlighted the head of Ukrainian diplomacy. “We are already in a new arms race, whether we realize it or not, whether we like it or not,” he continued, urging the EU to contribute to deterrence against an “aggressive Russia”, in order to demonstrate that it has the means to defend themselves. The European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, also echoed this with a video message: “I am pushing for the defense industries in Europe to enter a war economy mode, so that they can produce faster and more, with ‘goal to continue supporting Ukraine now and in the long term, whatever happens.’ “When we started planning the new European defense industrial strategy with Josep Borrell – the European commissioner then specified – we agreed that the union of the European and Ukrainian defense industries had to be a fundamental objective”.
Today’s meeting it represented a first step in this direction, in that integration of the respective defense systems so vaunted in recent months and which, according to many observers, could really help Ukraine to resist the Russian invasion more decisively, and then try to reject the Kremlin’s army and extract better conditions in view of possible negotiations for the end of the conflict. What is certain, Breton then concluded in his message, is that “we must continue to increase our ammunition production capacity” and ensure that European member states approve contracts that allow ammunition to be sent to Ukraine. “We will ensure that we replicate the ammunition approach in other segments, in order to increase our production capabilities. This is the meaning of our new European defense industrial strategy, accompanied by a new community defense industrial programme, the objective of which is to increase the readiness of the EU defense sector”, he concluded.
Words also reiterated by the European High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, who upon his arrival at the Brussels meeting underlined the importance of making the two defense sectors cooperate as much as possible, possibly by increasing the production of armaments on Ukrainian territory, also thanks to the European funds already allocated and participation in the Forum Brussels of over 140 companies from 25 different countries. “It is important that production can be carried out in Ukraine by Ukrainian companies, supported by the European Union. This would save transport costs and produce immediately where it is needed. And the results should involve and integrate the Ukrainian defense industry into the ecosystem of EU defense capabilities,” said the European High Representative. “We must produce more and faster,” he added, once again appealing to the entire EU to do its part. The issue, he clarified in his speech at the opening of the Brussels Forum, concerns the survival and “existence of Ukraine”, but also of the EU. Ukrainian cities, he declared, are constantly bombed by ballistic missiles and drones, because “Putin wants to bomb the evidence so it doesn’t emerge.” Every day, Borrell reiterated, “civilians die or are injured in Ukraine. This is because we lack defense ammunition and artillery, and we must increase our capacity to provide the military aid we have promised. The decision to support Ukraine, as well as the postponement of the implementation of this decision, has consequences. Now and tomorrow, for Ukraine and for us. We should be more strategic in thinking about what challenges Ukraine faces,” he said further, speaking to those present.
“Our ability to massively and rapidly deliver more missiles, artillery, ammunition and air systems to Ukraine is a matter of life and death for thousands of Ukrainian civilians and their military personnel. Our safety is also at stake,” she then reiterated. In this regard, however, it is necessary for the EU to do its part. The military aid approved by the United States Congress “is necessary and will arrive soon, even if months have been lost, but we must do our part”, she concluded. The most difficult and delicate work, however, remains the political one, in a Europe that also has to deal with the difficulty of remaining united in the face of the Ukrainian conflict, as has happened since the beginning of the attack by the Russian army. It was the Ukrainian Defense Minister himself who reiterated this by speaking via video conference. The expansion of Ukrainian military production capabilities, according to Kuleba, is in fact increasingly a “political issue” that concerns European governments.
“Our current task is to increase this work and guarantee results as soon as possible,” he then reiterated, thanking the EU member states and the defense industries who are reacting and who demonstrate that they have understood the moment in which the country finds itself. “It is crucial to abandon our national selfishness and work together to ensure our shared security,” Kuleba said, because “only joint efforts can ensure the security” of Ukraine and the EU. What is missing, according to the Kiev minister, is a greater number of long-term contracts, which can increase the predictability of supplies and fuel the Ukrainian and European military industry. “The more joint projects there are, the better,” he underlined in his speech, explaining that the capabilities of Ukrainian industries dealing with weapons production exceed the available funding.
“Ukrainian industry is a crucial component of the broader European industry”, confirmed the Ukrainian Minister of Strategic Industries, Oleksandr Kamyshin, who was present in person in Brussels. Russia, as well as “other aggressive countries”, must understand that its actions will be punished. For this reason “freedom must be better armed than tyranny”, he added. The Kiev government official then urged the participants of the event to pay attention to Ukrainian companies, finding ways to initiate joint projects and underlining how Ukraine has tripled the production of weapons and military equipment in the last year. For this reason, he concluded, cooperation with Europe “could achieve even better results”.
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