Increasing and accelerating the production of weapons in the agenda of the European Union

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency quoting According to Tagus Zeitung, the European Union wants to continue equipping Ukraine and to start the production process in this attacked country as well. “Joseph Burrell”, the head of foreign policy of the European Union, announced this news on Monday at an arms conference in Brussels. The conference called for a “war economy” in Europe. Kolba said in a video message: “If we want to maintain peace in the European Union, we must move towards the war economy and industry.” He also called for more investment in this field and said: EU countries should either finance the defense of their country – or deliver it themselves.

It is the first time that the European Union allows itself to participate in the arming of a non-aligned third country. It is also the first time that the “Armament Forum” is held in Europe. The first two arms exhibitions for Ukraine were held in Kyiv and Washington. According to the European Union, the third meeting in Brussels was a complete success: more than 140 arms companies from 25 EU countries came to the meeting to militarily equip Ukraine. “We have the industrial capacity and the money,” Burrell explained. Now the discussion is about producing “more and faster” weapons.

Of course, the European Union has so far moved far away from its goals of quickly equipping Ukraine. The country promised to give Ukraine 1 million artillery shells by March, but so far only half of it has been delivered. In order to increase production, the EU Commission presented its weapons strategy in March and set aside money from the EU budget for this purpose.

However, 1.5 The billion euros planned until 2027 are unlikely to be enough to cover lagging demand. EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton openly admitted this on Monday. “We know it’s not enough,” Burton said. But this process has started. According to him, the European Union and Ukraine have opened a “new chapter” in arms cooperation. He emphasized that the goal is to make the Ukrainian defense industry an “integral part” of the European defense sector.

The huge demand for weapons and ammunition now Big arms manufacturers such as Germany’s Rheinmetall are focusing their production more and more on Ukraine. The Dusseldorf-based company boasts that it is currently “the country’s defense industry’s most important partner in defense against Russia.” According to its statement, Rheinmetall plans to deliver “hundreds of thousands” of grenades to Ukraine this year with EU funding. Germany’s federal economy is supported. Haback explained in Berlin at the end of April that the focus of his work is now the Ministry of the Arms Industry. Similar sounds are coming from Paris. French Defense Minister Sébastien LeCorneau has recently threatened the industry with confiscation if weapons are not produced faster. These ideas were unthinkable in the European Union. After all, European politicians in Brussels, Berlin and Paris have long decorated themselves with the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the European Union in Oslo in 2012. In 2019, at the beginning of Ursula von der Leyen’s term of office, rearmament was not an issue. This is now dominating the agenda of the European Union. Critics continue to point to Article 41(2) of the EU Treaty, which prohibits “expenditure resulting from measures related to military or defense policy” from the EU budget. But they are rarely noticed anymore.

The final part of this article reads: Europe is being armed more than ever before. According to the Cypriot Peace Research Institute, military spending in Europe will exceed that of China in 2023. At 37 percent of GDP, the share of defense spending in Ukraine was particularly high. The reason for this is the Russian invasion.

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