Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and the heads of the Defense Ministries of Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Poland sent a joint letter to EU institutions on the areas of cooperation with the defense industry of Ukraine. This was reported by UNN with reference to the press service of the Danish Ministry of Defense.
The letter, in particular, to the European Commission, the EU's Common Foreign Policy Service, and the European Defense Agency, proposes four specific areas of cooperation with Ukraine's defense industry.
"Together with seven other defense ministers, we propose to develop an EU action plan for Ukraine's integration into the European defense industry as soon as possible. Among other things, this will ensure Ukraine's access to EU programs for the defense industry and defense innovation. Strengthening Ukraine's defense industry is essential for Ukraine - and for our security of supply in Europe," said Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.
According to the European Commission, almost 80 percent of the defense equipment purchased by EU member states after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine was purchased outside of Europe. But this trend is unsustainable if Europe is to create an industry capable of meeting the needs of its member states.
It is noted that ensuring the security of supply in Europe is a prerequisite for the continuation of the EU's military support for Ukraine and the EU's ability to take greater responsibility for its own security.
З початку року ворог скинув на Україну майже 10 тис. КАБів – Умєров26.05.24, 18:40
In the letter, the eight fellow ministers also emphasize the need to build up local maintenance capacity in Ukraine through industrial partnerships.
“To make this happen, we need a good EU framework to create long-term and strategic industrial partnerships between Ukrainian and European companies. Denmark has taken the first step and announced that we will invest directly in the Ukrainian defense industry. It will certainly strengthen Ukraine if more EU countries support Danish investments and follow our example,” the Danish Defense Minister said.
In addition to strengthening the European defense industry, the issue of further EU military support for Ukraine will be on the agenda of today's meeting of defense ministers in Brussels.