EU foreign and defense ministers seek arms deal

Foreign and defense ministers of the European Union (EU) will try on Monday at a joint meeting in Brussels to reach a political agreement on the joint purchase of ammunition and accelerate their delivery to Ukraine.

The meeting of foreign and defense portfolio holders on the 27th – the so-called “Jumbo” format – followed an informal meeting of defense ministers held on March 8 in Stockholm, at which the 27th had already reached agreement in principle on general lines. about the unprecedented joint acquisition of ammunition, which must now be “finished” and confirmed in this Foreign Affairs Council and European leaders at a summit scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Brussels.

After the discussion of Russian military aggression against Ukraine was already on the agenda at the morning meeting of the heads of diplomacy, after the speech in the videoconference mode of his Ukrainian colleague Dmitry Kuleba, in the afternoon at a joint meeting with the Ministers of Defense, an assessment of the implementation of the “Strategic Compass” will be made – one year after the adoption of the document defining the direction of EU security and defense policy – and then the joint acquisition of ammunition will be discussed.

The 27th Conference will consider, on the one hand, how to deliver to Ukraine as quickly as possible the ammunition that is in the “stocks” of the Member States, especially the 155 mm, which has long been requested by High Representative Josep Borrell, who chairs the work – and on the other hand, the increase in the production capacity of European industry and the issue of joint acquisitions, similar to what was done with vaccines during the covid-19 pandemic.

The EU has already identified 15 companies from 11 European countries that are currently capable of producing the 155mm munitions that the Ukrainian army needs the most.

The issue will return to consideration in Brussels at the EU Heads of State and Government Summit scheduled for 23 and 24 March, where, as has happened in all European councils since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, support for Ukraine will be discussed.

Portugal at today’s meetings will be represented by Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho and Defense Minister Elena Carreiras.

At the end of the day, the two ministers take part in the inaugural dinner of the Schuman Partnership for Security and Defense Forum (Shuman Forum), which “seeks to establish a wider network of relationships with international and regional actors and bilateral partners around the world. to facilitate dialogue and strategic reflection on international security and defence,” reads a note released by both ministries.