Brussels: The European Union’s defence chief on Tuesday proposed deeper integration of the bloc’s defence industry with Ukraine as a US peace plan remains in flux and Russia’s unconventional warfare operations rattle the 27-nation bloc.
EU lawmakers are due to hold a vote on a 1.5-billion-euro (USD 1.7 billion) program, with 300 million euros (USD 345 million) slated for the Ukraine Support Instrument.
Ukraine’s defence industry “needs us,” EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, without mentioning the ongoing peace negotiations to end the war. “But we need Ukraine’s defence innovations even more,” he said.
He said that allowing Ukrainian access to the EU’s Defence Investment Program “makes it possible to procure defence equipment in, with and for Ukraine.”
EU defence spending is expected to total around 392 billion euros (more than USD 450 billion) this year, almost double the amount of four years ago, before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The Trump administration has signalled that it’s prioritising US security on its own domestic borders and in Asia. It has told Europeans that they must fend for themselves and Ukraine in the future.
Born out of the carnage of the two world wars, the EU started as a trading bloc designed to avert conflict. But Russia’s war in Ukraine has spurred a shift in the Brussels-based bloc, heightening its defence and security posture. Agencies