Stop exporting weapons and send them to Ukraine instead, Borrell urges EU countries
Member states should temporarily halt exports of weapons to
countries other than Ukraine, Josep Borrell said on Monday, asking
governments to take a "political decision" and step up ammunition
supplies.
"Not
only do we have to support Ukraine for as long as it takes but for
whatever it takes. (It's) not just a matter of time – it's a matter of
quantity and quality of our supplies," the foreign policy chief said
during an official visit to Warsaw.
"And certainly we have to do more and quicker because Ukraine has to prevail."
The
European Union approved in March last year a €2-billion plan to boost
ammunition deliveries to Ukraine, pledging to send one million 155mm
shells within 12 months to help the battered country defend itself
against Russia's full-scale invasion.
But by late 2023,
the bloc had provided just 330,000 rounds, despite repeated pleas from
Kyiv. The number is expected to reach around 520,000 by the end of
March.
The slow deliveries were initially blamed on entrenched
industrial bottlenecks, supply chain disruptions and sluggish
investment, a direct consequence of the peaceful years that Europe
enjoyed after the end of the Cold War.
However, according to
Borrell, industrial capacity is no longer an obstacle: what is hampering
deliveries to Ukraine is the fact that European companies are exporting
weapons to clients that are not at war.
"An important part of our production is being exported to third
countries," the chief diplomat said, without naming the destinations.
"The
quickest and cheapest and (most) effective way of increasing our supply
of ammunition to Ukraine is to stop exporting to third countries. And
this is something that only member states can do – and this has been my
request."
Borrell noted that, besides the 520,000 artillery shells
projected to be donated by March, European companies were also selling
weapons to Ukraine "on a commercial basis" and in "great numbers,"
although he did not provide figures owing to "security reasons."
"Don't
believe that there's only donations. Our industry produces to donate
and produces to sell – and produces to sell to others," Borrell said.
"So
the best way to sell more to Ukraine, or to donate more to Ukraine, is
to try to tell the others (clients) – 'please wait, you're not at war,
you can wait some months' – and divert this production to Ukraine," he
went on.
Export controls are a highly sensitive competence that remains
strictly in the hands of governments. Only in the case of sanctions can
Brussels impose uniform rules. Otherwise, countries are free to allow –
or ban – their national companies to export sensitive products outside
of the bloc.
According to a previous estimate
by the European Commission, 11 member states host factories that can
produce 155mm shells: Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France,
Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.
It's
unclear how many of these countries will respond to Borrell's appeal and
restrict exports, given the copious revenues the defence industry can
reap in global markets.
"I completely support" Borrell's proposal,
said Radosław Sikorski, Poland's foreign affairs minister, during the
visit. "Ukraine is still outgunned by the Russians on the front and we
need to help level the balance."
Boosting military supplies to
Ukraine has become a pressing priority in Brussels in the face of the
protracted legislative impasse in Washington, where President Joe Biden
is pleading with Republicans to unblock further aid to Kyiv.
Borrell floated last year
an ambitious €20-billion plan to provide Ukraine with "sustainable and
predictable" military support but the blueprint quickly faded away. Most
recently, he pitched a €5-billion top-up to the European Peace
Facility, the off-budget system that partially compensates member states
for their donated weapons. The idea is under intense negotiations and
the outcome is expected in the coming weeks.
"This is a political decision that member states have to take."
