The European Union is providing one billion euros to finance ammunition supplies to Ukraine. This was decided by the Council of the EU today. The EU itself does not directly finance the ammunition. Instead, it refinances its member states that supply ammunition to Ukraine from their stockpiles or from ongoing procurements between February 9 and May 31, 2023. The initiative is financed from the European Peace Facility (EPF), a Union fund for financing security and defense policy measures.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said: "With today's decision we are implementing the first part of the historic agreement reached by EU leaders to secure the immediate delivery of artillery ammunition worth one billion euros to support the Ukrainian armed forces. There is no better proof of the EU's collective determination to support Ukraine's legitimate right to self-defense against the brutal Russian aggressor.”
Mit seinem Statement bezieht sich Borrell auf den Beschluss des Rates vom 20. März. In diesem haben sich die Mitglieder darauf geeinigt, die Ukraine auf drei verschiedenen Wegen mit Munition zu versorgen. Erstens über die Lieferung aktueller Bestände durch die Mitgliedstaaten, die durch die EU refinanziert werden. Zweitens durch die Lieferung von gemeinsam bestellter Munition durch die Mitgliedstaaten und drittens über eine durch die Kommission zu schaffenden langfristigen Perspektive für die Industrie, zum Aufbau dauerhafter Lieferketten (ES&T reported).
With this decision, the sum from the pot of the European Peace Facility, with which the EU has been supporting Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022, increases to 4.6 billion euros. This means that more than half of the EPF has already been spent on support services to Ukraine. In total, the EPF budget is currently 7.9 billion euros after being increased by a further 2.2 billion euros in December. In addition, in December the possibility was decided to increase the financial volume of the EPF by a further 3.5 billion euros in the period up to 2027. A budget of five billion euros was originally planned for the EU financial instrument introduced in 2021, which should last until 2027.
Editorial staff / oh
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