Thank you dear Władysław [Kosiniak-Kamysz, Deputy Prime Minister-Minister of National Defence].
Thank you for hosting us here in Warsaw today. Thank you for last night’s dinner. Everybody was very happy with the event.
We have just concluded a productive meeting of European Union Defence Ministers, and I would like to share some points with you dear journalists.
First, on Ukraine.
Europe, the United States and, most of all, Ukraine want this war to end. It has been nearly four weeks [since] Ukraine agreed to [an] unconditional ceasefire.
Since then, Russia has stalled attempts to reach a peaceful resolution.
To end the war, we must strengthen our support for Ukraine. We all agree on this. And I am pleased to see that following our ongoing discussions several European Union Member States have made new pledges in recent days.
France has announced an additional €2 billion in support; Germany has committed up to €12 billion for the next years and Sweden has pledged €1.4 billion in military aid.
These contributions are not just numbers, the money will save lives. We see Russia bombing Ukraine every day, and every day, also people lose their lives.
On the European Union’s side, we are prioritising providing 2 million rounds of artillery ammunition for Ukraine this year, as requested by President Zelenskyy.
This is both realistic, but it is also achievable. We can do this together will all the European allies.
And today’s discussions have helped refine our plans.
Ministers also discussed how the European Union can support security guarantees for Ukraine alongside the coalition of the willing.
The European Union has many tools at its disposal, from funding Ukraine’s defence industry to expanding training programs for Ukrainian soldiers and also tightening sanctions that put pressure on Russia – because the strongest security guarantee is a strong Ukrainian military.
We also discussed the Europeans’ own defence. Russia will remain a long-term threat to the European Union, no matter the outcome of its war in Ukraine. So, strengthening Europe’s own defence capabilities is also crucial.
The best way to prevent a war is to be unmistakably ready to win one.
The White Paper on Defence outlines a clear path forward. It includes freeing up to €800 billion for defence, pooling resources for joint [defence] projects, and deepening cooperation with partners.
Filling critical capability gaps, like drones, air defence, Artificial Intelligence, [or] cyber security, must be a priority.
NATO, of course, remains the cornerstone of our collective defence, and enhancing European capabilities will further strengthen NATO’s alliance.
On Friday, that is tomorrow, NATO’s Foreign Ministers will hold their first ever dedicated session on European defence.
I look forward to briefing them also on these efforts, on what we have agreed on among European Union’s Members.
Because today’s security challenges are too big for any country or organisation to tackle alone. We have to do this together; we are much stronger together.
Thank you again, dear Władysław, for hosting us today.
Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-269739
Q&A
Q. I would like a follow-up on these 2 million ammunitions rounds for Ukraine. Before you were saying that you have different proposals and different countries that are offering to participate in this. Could you please elaborate? You were talking about over 50%: is it going to be over 50% after today’s discussions?
The important thing is that Ukraine gets the ammunition and gets it very fast. We had the discussions inside the room on what different countries are delivering. Some have issues with putting these under this initiative, but I do not mind. I think it is important that Ukraine gets the help they need. President Zelenskyy has said they need 2 million rounds; it is around €5 billion. And countries are stepping up, like I say, coming [up] with €2 billion from France, €12 billion [from Germany]. It is of course over [the span of] some years. There were other countries inside the room who were saying that they would also put this money into the use of Ukraine and the sums, but I will let them announce it themselves. I think it is fair like this. It is important, [because] if we count those contributions in, then we are able to do these 2 million rounds in a the short term – and that is important. That is what Ukraine needs.
Q. Are you surprised it has taken the Council so long to deal with this? When would you like to see this implemented?
Would I like it to be faster? Yes, but we are 27 democracies, and it is quite a complicated structure. Coming from Estonia, where things took less time. But before that, I was in private practise, and I can tell things were much faster there. So, the frustration, personally, is that things take time, but democracy takes time, and we actually have to have these thorough discussions, so we have everybody on board. When we start them, it is clear what we have agreed on. So yes, on our side we are of course pushing things to go faster, but we cannot compromise also on the debates that actually add value to the proposals.
Q. Is Secretary Rubio’s message that all EU NATO members need to be part of a path to spending 5% GDP on defence realistic? And the second question, were there any recent changes in EC EU funding for the internet satellite for Ukraine? There was a recommendation in the White Paper, but my question is: has any increase happened already?
Of course, we have been in the meeting, so I have just gotten the information of the statements. I think it is positive what the [US] Secretary of State Marco Rubio says, that US is with NATO and is not planning to leave NATO or anything. So, they are strong allies, and they are there – like they have been for 75 years before.
On the second message – that European allies should spend more – that has been a long call of the American leadership, to spend more and also shoulder much more burden on the European side. What is positive is that we have actually heard that message and we are doing more. There are countries who are planning to spend 5%, but it is also important that everybody hits the targets that we have set so far.
It is clear that we are in this very difficult situation where we need to spend more on defence. I would not focus so much on the numbers but on the capabilities that we talked about today as well. What more we can do together, how we see defence, regionally, so that we cooperate because it is not a national [issue] anymore. It is about protecting and defending Europe. So that is why we have proposed the White Paper on how to move forward. But the question is on implementation, and of course the investments done there are also contributing to the national targets which are increasing the overall defence spending for Europe. So, I think it is important that Europe does more, and the United States has been very clear about this. Countries like Poland, or the Baltic states have really invested, but not all the European countries. I think this call is very clear [on the fact] that we need to do more, and we have heard that message, too.
On the satellite, it is clear that all these defence capabilities are linked to the satellites. Today we also discussed how we develop our capabilities in this regard [so] that there are no dependencies. But [about] clear commitments when it comes to monetary contributions, I cannot say that right now. It is clear that the need is there, and we need to do more so that we have the capabilities like satellite connections.
Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-270320