EU countries must quickly use financial and credit opportunities to support Ukraine’s defense industry.
This was stated by EU Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius during a discussion at the Brussels Forum under the auspices of the German Marshall Fund.
“We can be more effective if we spend our financial resources allocated to support Ukraine together with the Ukrainian defense industry. Because they [the Ukrainians] are very efficient, very innovative. They can produce high-quality weapons at half the cost of what we produce in Europe,” the Commissioner said.
He added that two weeks ago, the EU adopted SAFE — a credit program to support the European defense industry — and expressed hope that EU member states would take advantage of it to place defense orders with Ukrainian defense enterprises and for Ukraine’s own needs. Kubilius stressed that member states must make such decisions urgently.
At the same time, he noted that the EU must rapidly develop the capacity of its own defense industry, given the threat posed by Russia. He cited NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s remark that currently all NATO countries, including the US, produce as many munitions in a year as Russia can in three months.
“This is the gap we need to close. European programs like ASAP and EDIRPA have been very effective. For example, when the ASAP program (The Act in Support of Ammunition Production) was adopted in 2023, the EU was producing only 300,000 rounds. We are entering this year with production at 2 million rounds. The Ukrainians also produce a lot, and they have the potential to produce much more,” the Commissioner added.
