Europe Day 2025: What to expect from the visit of European ministers on May 9
Kyiv • UNN
On May 9, EU foreign ministers will meet in Kyiv. They will announce the allocation of 1 billion euros for the production of weapons in Ukraine.
On May 9, Ukraine will host the foreign ministers of the European Union to celebrate Europe Day. A correspondent of UNN investigated what to expect from this meeting and what are the prospects for further cooperation between Ukraine and its European partners.
Meeting of EU Ministers in Kyiv on Europe Day 2025
The foreign ministers of the European Union will announce the allocation of one billion euros for the production of weapons in Ukraine, said the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, during a press conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Warsaw.
She noted that the EU foreign ministers will visit Ukraine on Friday, May 9.
"During the visit to Kyiv on May 9, the EU foreign ministers will announce the allocation of EUR 1 billion for the production of weapons in Ukraine," she said.
Main topics of discussion and decisions taken
"The visit of foreign ministers of European countries to Kyiv on May 9 will resemble the format of the Crimean Platform, which was once popular, but is now irrelevant. It will look spectacular against the background of the events taking place in Moscow, but there are very big doubts about its practicality," explained political scientist Andriy Zolotariov.
The political scientist also added that despite its formality, the meeting of European foreign ministers in Kyiv is useful, as it is also part of the information war.
Most likely, the ministers will simply make some declarations, but this will have a very distant relationship to real politics. It will be more of a PR event as opposed to Russia. We understand that in this war, the information component sometimes goes three steps ahead of the military and political one
The expert noted that after the sharp change in the United States' policy towards Ukraine, Europe has made many declarations, but it is not able to close the gap that has arisen due to the United States.
"The hopes that European countries together with the United States would be our reliable rear have not been justified. Now we are seeing a change in the situation. European countries promise a lot, but they are not able to close the opportunities that the United States gave us. And the United States is radically changing its policy towards Ukraine," the expert explained.
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The impact of EU support on the situation in Ukraine
However, there is also another side to the coin due to the departure of the United States. In particular, it is important that Europeans have begun to understand the importance of cooperation with Ukraine.
The Europeans have realised that there can be no strong Europe without Ukraine. This is a very good trend. This may speed up Ukraine's accession to the EU, even if we do not meet some criteria. We should take advantage of this, because Ukrainians with the army and their military-industrial complex are a useful part of European security. Without security, there is no economy. I hope that this potential will be realised for Ukraine
At the same time, according to Zahorodnyi, for Ukraine, the US withdrawal from Europe is a good opportunity to show its value to Europeans and declare itself as a powerful international partner.
The change in the US approach makes Ukraine more valuable. In fact, Ukraine is now 50% of NATO's potential. The Americans say they will withdraw troops from Europe, and the Europeans say: go ahead. We have Ukraine, we have money, we have France's and Great Britain's nuclear umbrella. And we are becoming more self-sufficient and stronger, including in talks with the United States of America
However, financial initiatives on the part of the EU are quite limited. This primarily concerns the financing of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex and other military initiatives, including the peacekeeping contingent.
"Europeans finance a lot of things, but there is little money. There should be more. The question is only about money. Orders for the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, financing of peacekeepers, who cannot be found in any way," - stressed Zahorodnyi.
The political scientist believes that for Europeans, for more effective support of Ukraine, the experience of France and its foreign legion would not hurt, which would help save money.
"Act like France - create foreign legions, hire people all over the world, send these legions to Ukraine. It is not so expensive - pay three thousand dollars to each person per month. One hundred thousand people - three hundred million per month. 3.6 billion a year. This is a pittance for Europeans," - Zahorodnyi expressed his opinion.
Andriy Zolotariov also stressed that financial capabilities play a special role during the war. If we compare the capabilities of the US and Europe, they are too disproportionate.
Cooperation with Europe will be fruitful, but not as much as we can expect. War is money, big money. We must remember that French President Macron has spoken a lot about helping Ukraine. But unlike the United States, which, according to official figures, has provided us with $114 billion in financial and military assistance, France has given only $4 billion
Zolotariov reminded that Macron also rebuked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for not helping enough, but Germany provided approximately 25 billion, while France at that time approximately 3 billion. He also noted that the main European leaders are facing serious political challenges related to the elections.
Threats to Ukrainian-European cooperation
The European "Big Three" (Great Britain, France and Germany) are now facing both a budget crisis and political problems. When Merz was elected, he could not give a specific answer to any question. Being in opposition, he made pleasant statements for us, but when he became Federal Chancellor in a coalition with very cautious Social Democrats, his position is no longer so clear-cut
The political scientist also explained that in Great Britain, in the municipal elections, the Labour Party in the regions where they usually won suffered a defeat "in one wicket", which also creates new challenges for Prime Minister Keir Starmer and distracts him from Ukraine.
Therefore, relations between Ukraine and the European Union are developing quite dynamically. A significant role here is played by the change in the policy of the United States and the need for the countries of the European continent to begin to unite and strengthen their capabilities. And in this context, it may well turn out that Ukraine can give Europe much more than Europe can give Ukraine. First of all, it is the invaluable experience of resisting the aggressive plans of one of the most aggressive and powerful states in the world - Russia.