EU prepares new €20 billion defense package for Ukraine
Photo: Andrius Kubilius (Getty Images)
The European Commission is preparing a defense projects competition, under which it plans to attract approximately 20 billion euros in unused funds from the SAFE program. The EU and Ukraine will be able to participate jointly in these projects, states EU Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius.
As Kubilius explained, the main objective of the new competition is to expand cooperation with Ukraine in the defense sector and implement joint projects both on Ukrainian territory and in EU countries.
"Goal for this second call: to do more with Ukraine, both in Ukraine and in the EU; both for Ukraine and for ourselves given Ukraine's lead in defence innovation," Kubilius said.
The European Commissioner also noted that this year, Ukraine's defense budget has a deficit of 23 billion euros. According to him, this creates a need for further support for Ukraine from international partners.
"The cause: unfulfilled promises made by individual countries during the Ankara NATO summit to provide more than 40 bln euros," Kubilius explained.
Incidentally, the European Commission recently announced the allocation of 325 million euros to support five European Defence Projects of Common Interest (EDPCI). Ukraine is participating in four of them.
Kyiv expects to receive a new tranche from the European Union in the coming days.
Ukraine received a 3.3 billion euro tranche from the EU for missiles and drones.
