European countries will deliver only half of promised ammunition to Ukraine by March | News

In March last year, the Europeans had promised to deliver one million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine within a year. Of these, 330,000 have currently been delivered, or about a third of the target. According to Borrell, that amount of ammunition delivered will increase to about 524,000 by March, or about half of what was initially promised.

By the end of this year, that number should increase to 1.1 million ammunition delivered. According to Borrell, the Member States have committed to supplying an additional 630,000 rounds of ammunition.

During a press conference alongside Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder, Borrell defended the European efforts as a “work in progress”. The High Representative also emphasized that production capacity has been increased by 40 percent since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “If there is no production capacity, we cannot produce,” he said.

By the end of this year, the production capacity should reach 1.4 million rounds of ammunition per year. “We need to move from emergency mode to a long-term approach to strengthening the defense industry,” Borrell added.

Earlier on Wednesday, five European government leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, called on their European colleagues in an open letter in the ‘Financial Times’ newspaper to “redouble their efforts” to provide more military support for Ukraine . Prime Minister Alexander De Croo informs our editors that the federal government supports the call.

“We must redouble our efforts to guarantee our support for as long as it is needed,” write Olaf Scholz, Mette Frederiksen (Denmark), Petr Fiala (Czech Republic), Kaja Kallas (Estonia) and Mark Rutte (Netherlands). “Ukraine does not have sufficient artillery. And the commitments regarding military support are in danger of not meeting the needs,” it said.

That is why the five heads of government “call on Ukraine’s friends and allies to recommit to long-term, sustainable military support. This in the context of a common responsibility for Europe.”

The Belgian government supports the call of European leaders. Through spokesperson Bram Delen, De Croo also emphasizes to HLN the importance of our own defense industry: “Especially the point of developing a European defense industry, where every military expenditure also yields benefits for our own industry.”

Tomorrow, the 27 heads of state and government will meet at a European summit devoted to financial support for Kiev. Difficult negotiations will be on the menu at the European Council with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who vetoed a 50 billion euro tranche of aid to Ukraine in December. Military support for Kiev is also on the agenda.

To accommodate Orbán, EU leaders propose to annually debate the 50 million euros in aid to Ukraine. The Reuters news agency writes this based on a leaked document. The large sum of money is intended to support the country for the period 2024-2027, but Hungary wants to be able to revise it annually with the right of veto. Other EU member states are against that plan.

“At the beginning of 2023, the European Union committed to delivering 1 million shells to Ukraine by the end of March 2024. The harsh reality is that we have not achieved this objective,” the open letter continues in ‘Financial Times’. “What is urgent now is to send the ammunition and weapon systems that Ukraine needs to the field.”

The European Summit starts on Thursday at 10 am.