EU defense ministers discuss 'war economy,' ammo for Ukraine

Defense ministers from the EU's 27 member states are meeting in the Swedish capital on Wednesday to debate plans to refill Ukraine's ammunition stockpiles from their own while also ramping up production within the bloc.

The meeting comes amid concerns that Ukraine will run out of the 155-millimeter howitzer shells that have played a key role in the country's defense against the full-scale Russian invasion that began in February 2022.

The EU ministers will discuss the possibility of sending €1 billion worth ($1.06 billion) of shells from their own stockpiles while at the same time considering how to ramp up the bloc's homegrown arms production capacities.

How is the EU planning on increasing ammunition supplies to Ukraine?

Kyiv has been firing thousands of howitzer shells every day and is facing a critical shortage.

The EU's short-term plan is to dip into the joint European Peace Facility fund to rapidly restock Ukraine's howitzer ammunition from the bloc's own stockpile.

Officials have said that member states have enough shells that the deliveries to Ukraine would not leave them vulnerable to attack.

The bloc also aims to incentivize arms manufacturers to ramp up production by putting in massive joint orders.

Joint procurement of ammunition

But some member states have questioned whether this will be enough to support Ukraine's war effort.

"According to Ukrainian needs, they would need at least 350,000 155-mm rounds per month," Madis Roll, a senior official at  Estonia's Defense Ministry, told the AFP news agency.

"Therefore, Estonia has proposed the initiative to jointly procure at least 1 million 155-mm ammunition rounds to Ukraine, which is the absolute minimum military requirement for Ukraine."

This suggestion of joint procurement, similar to how vaccines were acquired during the coronavirus pandemic, has been backed by the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad told DW that "it will be easier if there were an entity, let's say the European Commission," to organize the procurement of ammunition which other countries could then join.

He said this was due to different procurement laws among the member states and the fact that there aren't that many "companies across the European Union who would be able to produce 155-milimeter ammunition."

Boosting the EU's own production capacity

Another source of tension within the EU has been the question of whether they should prioritize speed by purchasing arms and munitions from outside the bloc or whether the priority should be boosting the EU's own defense industry.

Proponents of the latter point to the years of low investment since the end of the Cold War which have led to the current shortages.

"European industry is not adapted for the needs of a high-intensity conflict," European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton told journalists Tuesday.

"Our defence industry must quickly switch to 'war economy' mode," he added.

Following Wednesday's meeting between defense ministers, officials say they hope for a finalized plan for sending ammunition to Ukraine to be agreed upon at a meeting of foreign ministers on March 20.

Alexandra von Nahmen contributed reporting to this article.

ab/sms (AFP, dpa)