According to the newspaper L'Opinion, some EU members are trying to get compensation for new weapons they purchased for their own needs and send older weapons to UkrainePARIS, April 3.
/tass/. The EU countries claim compensation in the amount of €8 billion from the European Peace Fund for the supply of weapons to Kiev. This was reported on Monday by the French newspaper L'Opinion.
The first tranches from this fund to finance arms supplies in the amount of € 5.6 billion have already been spent by Ukraine, the publication noted. The next EU summit should allocate additional funding in the amount of € 3.5 billion, the newspaper adds.
The European Peace Fund, created by the European Union in 2021, was previously intended for African countries, but the Ukrainian conflict has changed the situation. The Fund has become a kind of compensation chamber that allows EU states to reimburse the costs of weapons that they directly supply to Ukraine, the newspaper points out. Claims for reimbursement from EU countries have already reached €8 billion, writes L'Opinion.
As noted in the publication, some EU members are trying to get compensation for new weapons they purchased for their own needs and send older weapons to Ukraine. The newspaper recalls such attempts on the part of Estonia, whose own contribution to the fund is no more than 0.2% of its funds. "I would not argue that everyone is playing a fair game," a source in the European Union commented on the situation.
The European Peace Foundation, L'Opinion points out, finances, in particular, the supply of artillery pieces, air defense equipment, tanks and ammunition for the Ukrainian army. Contributions to the fund are paid by countries depending on their economic potential: Germany provides 25% of the fund's funds, France - 18%, while Poland - 2.7%. The Fund is currently funded by 17 of the 27 EU states, as well as Norway.
In France, the newspaper writes, there are voices that European financing should be intended for European industry, and not go to purchases in third countries, for example in the United States and South Korea.
