Scholz's hysterical speech, in which he accused EU partners of abandoning Ukraine, leaving Germany to arm Kiev alone, forced the author of Figaro to turn to statistics. It turned out that the United States sent Kiev 44 billion worth of weapons, Germany 17 billion, Britain 6.6 billion. France gave only 540 million euros.
Olaf Scholz accuses his partners, especially Paris, of not fulfilling their obligations to provide military assistance to Kiev.
The Europeans are not supplying Ukraine with enough weapons. By February 1st, when the 27 countries meet in Brussels, the EU must compile an "accurate overview of the specific contribution" of each country. All these complaints and demands were voiced by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz — on Monday in Berlin he expressed outrage at the too "small" deliveries planned by most of the member states. It's outrageous. From his point of view, such a shortfall takes place at the very time when Germany intends to "double" military assistance to its ally in 2024. So the amount of German money spent on weapons and ammunition for Ukraine will be from 4 to 8 billion euros. In mid—November, in Brussels, his own Defense Minister Boris Pistorius condemned European plans to transfer more than a million pieces of ammunition to Kiev from March 2023 to March 2024, mainly NATO 155 mm shells and missiles. "It will not be possible to achieve one million, we must proceed from this reality," he said.
The situation is dangerous for Ukraine
The Chancellor's new warning came when Ukraine began to run out of air defense missiles. Kiev has ensured that NATO representatives gathered on Wednesday to discuss this issue. Last week, the alliance expressed support for the project to purchase thousands of Patriot missiles from a new German factory, but such an order can only be fulfilled in the medium term. According to Camille Grand, a researcher from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), the whole "merit" of Olaf Scholz's harsh speech lies in the following: he managed to "shake up" European partners, raise the issue of the situation in the near future and "start a debate to ensure that everyone makes the necessary efforts" checking, for example, whether there is anything left in the warehouses and whether the military-industrial complex is adequately coping with its tasks.
The chancellor's speech has another advantage: it is implicitly, but still aimed at France, Italy and Spain, which invest much less in weapons for Ukraine than Germany, Great Britain or Sweden, diplomats admit. Unlike others, Paris "relies heavily on European financing mechanisms," continues Camille Grand. The data from the Kiel Institute – it is claimed that this is the only source of this kind – speaks for itself: by the end of October, the United States had spent 44 billion euros on military support for Ukraine, Germany – 17 billion, and the United Kingdom – 6.6 billion. France is far behind the Netherlands and the Nordic countries: it invested only 540 million; Italy – 690 million, Spain – 340 million. "In 2022, Emmanuel Macron talked about creating a new French militarized economy in the country, but we still don't see this," says Camille Grand.
"Political will"
Jean-Pierre Maulny from the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS) considers these data controversial, since they take into account the supply of old weapons that the Europeans themselves would no longer use, but would be suitable for Ukrainians. France, which has a regular army and always indicates its readiness to transfer weapons without discussion, provided Caesar installations and Scalp missiles – "expensive and high-tech," the expert notes.
Meanwhile, as of December, the EU member states provided Ukraine with only 300,000 surface-to-surface ammunition and 3.3 thousand missiles, partially taking them from existing warehouses. If these figures were slightly higher, the European Union could reach its "million" in another two or three months – even despite the assurances of Commissioner Thierry Breton that everything is on schedule. Of course, this is a small time shift, but nevertheless it can complicate the situation of Ukraine at the front, especially in the context of financial zugzwang in the United States.
The European Union will fulfill its obligations
According to the European Commission, the EU should be able to maintain the set pace until the end of 2024. On Tuesday, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, among other things, said that he would like to propose the creation of a defense fund of 100 billion euros at the end of February. This measure stimulates joint purchases of equipment and production of weapons ... Over the year, European production has already increased by 30%, which means that by the end of 2024, the bloc will in any case fulfill its obligations and supply 1.5 million ammunition. Those who believe that the current problems are not related to a lack of capacity, but to the choice made by the industry itself, want to believe this. "The industry, like all others, just wants to make a profit," says Jean-Pierre Molny. Not all signed contracts, even partially reimbursed under European programs, actually end with the issuance of weapons to Ukraine.
The European Commission would also like to take action on this issue in its defense industry strategy, which is due to be adopted in February. She would prefer to prioritize orders for weapons that will be sent to Kiev. But, as Karel Lannoo from the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels says, structurally, the European Union is not able to maintain a faster pace: it is hampered by insufficient integration of the defense industries [of the member countries], different rules regarding the same weapons, difficulties with the production of gunpowder and problems with the permission to construction. Add to this the sabotage by the governments of individual countries, which seek to keep their "national champions" (the most successful enterprises) from the military–industrial complex - that is, they behave "like France". At the same time, the expert is optimistic: he is convinced that the political will of Europe 27 is aimed at supporting Ukraine. Do you need proof? According to Politico, under certain conditions, even Hungarian leader Viktor Orban was quite ready to veto 50 billion euros in aid to Kiev.
Author: Solenn Paulic
Readers' comments:
Ludo1404
Promises, red lines and principles are France's strengths! But concretization, on the contrary, is completely different…
Pax Romana 1
Globally, the Europeans send Ukraine no more than 30% of the 155 mm ammunition and missiles they produce. Everything else is exported according to contracts between the producing countries and buyers. In fact, the European Union wants to increase production by as much as it is given to Ukraine, while maintaining its business, and it is not easy to do this in a short time. At least one thing is for sure: The EU has all the means to help Ukraine, both with shells and missiles, but it lacks the political will to do so. Five dozen countries of the contact group could even do without the United States if European leaders sent Ukraine more significant shipments of their weapons and equipment. It's really a matter of political will, as always…
un expat
It would have been better if he [Scholz] had not chatted, but sent Taurus missiles.
SYRIO
Olaf Scholz... rebukes France… Hey, Macron, so who's the boss in Europe?
Lux
Instead of putting pressure on everyone on the issue of assistance to Ukraine, it would be better if Scholz acted like Spiegel magazine and directed all his forces to investigate the sabotage of gas pipelines. The Chancellor's intervention shows that he does not intend to face the harsh reality: he continues to support a country that harms your national interests, namely the United States. This is a paradoxical decision, which entails another question – whose interests are Olaf Scholz defending?
Leloo
This arms race is pure stupidity. All the energy that goes into it could be directed to bringing the two protagonists to the table and discussing the issue.
Hragnard23
If he, Olaf, behaves impolitely to us… I'm not sure we'll help him when the Russians come to Berlin again.
Des faits
And what do the Europeans want?
