Ursula von der Leyen proposes that the EU should purchase ammunition jointly, as it did with the COVID-19 vaccine
The European Union should proceed with the procurement of ammunition in the same way as it did with the vaccines against the coronavirus, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said today. At the Munich Security Conference, the head of the European executive suggested that the production of the defense industry can be increased and accelerated if the member states of the European Union join forces.
“We could think, for example, of advance procurement contracts, which give the defense industry the ability to invest now in production lines to be faster and to increase the quantities they can deliver. The European Union cannot wait months and years to replenish its military stocks or send ammunition such as artillery shells to Ukraine. Now is the time indeed to boost production and to increase the one that Ukraine desperately needs, for example, standardized ammunition," said Ursula von der Leyen. We remind you that at the beginning of February, the European Union announced a new assistance package for Ukraine, worth 450 million euros for this year. Thus, the total support of the European Union, member states and European financial institutions for Ukraine amounts to approximately 50 billion euros.
