EU proposes to expand cooperation with defense industry of Ukraine
On the initiative of the Minister of Defense of Denmark Troels Lund Poulsen, the defense ministers of Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Poland sent a joint letter to the EU with a proposal to expand cooperation with the defense industry of Ukraine.
As Censor.NET reports with reference to Interfax-Ukraine, this is reported on the department's website.
The letter proposes four specific areas of cooperation with the Ukrainian military industry. It was sent to the European Commission, the Single Diplomatic Service of the EU, the European Defense Agency and the defense departments of other European countries on the eve of the meeting of the EU defense ministers.
"Together with seven other defense ministers, we plan to prepare an EU action plan for Ukraine's integration into the European defense industry as soon as possible. Among other things, it should ensure Ukraine's access to EU defense industry and defense innovation programs. A strengthened Ukrainian defense industry is important for Ukraine and for our security of supplies to Europe," said the Danish Defense Minister.
According to the European Commission, almost 80% of the defense equipment purchased by EU member states since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine was purchased outside of Europe. According to the ministers, this trend will not be sustainable if an industry capable of meeting the needs of EU member states is built in Europe.
"Strengthening the security of supplies to Europe is a necessary condition for the continuation of the EU's military support to Ukraine and the EU's ability to take greater responsibility for its own security," the heads of defense departments said in a joint statement.
In addition, the letter emphasizes the need to build maintenance capacity at the local level in Ukraine through industrial partnerships and targeted efforts.
"In order to succeed, we must create a good EU basis for building a long-term and strategic industrial partnership between Ukrainian and European companies. Denmark has taken the first step and announced that we will directly invest in the Ukrainian defense industry. This will definitely strengthen Ukraine if more EU countries will support Danish investments and follow our example," said Poulsen.
As reported on the website of the Danish Ministry of Defense, in addition to strengthening the European defense industry, the continuation of military support to Ukraine from the EU will be one of the main issues of the meeting of defense ministers scheduled for May 26 in Brussels.
