The 59th edition of the Conference on security took place some days ago in Munich, Germany, attended by head of States and prime ministers, ministers, military officials, diplomats, and political analysts from all over the world. Involving 96 nations, the Conference focuses on security challenges in Europe following the war in Ukraine, started a year ago. Ukrainian President Zelensky opened the forum and highlighted his country’s need for ongoing weapons supply from the West to combat the invader, giving less floor to negotiations, and prioritizing winning the enemy. Beside the differences in demography and resources, the Ukrainian President thinks that, with the right instruments and weapons, “small” Ukraine can win.
During his speech, EU Head of Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, stressed that war will end unless the EU finds a way to speed up weapon supply to Ukraine. In the last day of the Conference, he declared that a special meeting of EU Defense Ministers scheduled on the 8th and 9th March will offer nations the chance to send ammunitions from their stockages. He also lamented that to receive a bullet European armies have to wait up to 10 months.
“This ammunition lack must be solved quickly; it’s a matter of weeks
”
- Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
On this Monday’s EU Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting, Borrell is to present plans to use the existing peace instrument of 3.6 billion Euros to jointly buy ammunitions in as for the vaccine supply during Covid crisis. First proposed by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, this strategy should be middle-run, but lacks urge EU nations to use their stocks. In the same speech, Kallas affirmed Russia is in war mode, producing ammunitions quickly and systematically. She added EU must apply a similar war mode. She also thought defense industry topmen told her they didn’t receive orders from the EU.
Josep Borrell pointed at war in Ukraine as an incentive to break taboos and boost defense interoperability in all Europe. He stressed change won’t happen by the day and deplored a culture of delays he thinks has weakened the European Defense Agency’s coordinating role. Some European nations have already taken steps onwards and started programs that modify defense budget, for example, Poland and France. France is increasing defense budget by 40%, from 39 billion Euros to 59 billion Euros.
European commitment can’t stop on weapons supply, though. European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen announced the European Union is proposing sanctions pack number 10 against Russia, with a value of 11 billion Euros, targeting not only Moscow but also Teheran. The pack follows Russian invasion of Ukraine, will focus on commercial bans for machinery components, spare parts for trucks and engine and will impose export restrictions on electronic components used in Russian weapons, drones, missiles, helicopters, double-use technologies. The pack will include sanctions to Iranian entities that supply drones and transfer know-how to build production sites on Russian soil, also those linked to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Moreover, sanctions will focus on Russian propaganda and those responsible for kidnappings, forced adoptions and human rights violations.
Escalation in Ukraine requires a decisive action by European Union. According to Borrell, weapon supply is an important step, maybe crucial, to guarantee Ukraine territorial sovereignty and integrity. In parallel, the European strategy of economic sanctions is pressing Russia and discouraging Moscow, even if the way to peace seems inaccessible.
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Fonti utilizzate per il seguente articolo:
https://www.eunews.it/2023/02/15/decimo-pacchetto-sanzioni-ue-russia-iran/
Fonte immagine: https://unsplash.com/photos/8Yw6tsB8tnc
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L'Autore
Riccardo Carboni
Classe 1999, laureato in Scienze internazionali e Diplomatiche presso l’Università di Bologna e da sempre appassionato di affari internazionali. Studente all’ultimo anno di Master in International Relations presso la LUISS, ha approfondito tematiche riguardanti la sicurezza internazionale seguendo forum e partecipando a programmi di pianificazione militari secondo la dottrina NATO. Autore all’interno di Mondo Internazionale per l’area tematica “Organizzazioni Internazionali”.
Born in 1999, he holds a bachelor’s degree in International and Diplomatic Sciences from the University of Bologna and have always been passionate about international affairs. Currently a final-year student in the Master's degree program in International Relations at LUISS, he has delved into issues related to international security by following forums and participating in military planning programs based on NATO doctrine. Author and contributor to Mondo Internazionale for the "International Organisations” section.
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Ukraine Russia Unione Europea Russia-Ukraine war Ursula Von der Leyen Borrell Zelensky Europa