Luxembourg Says ‘Support Must Match Ukraine’s Needs’ at EU Defence Meeting

On Tuesday 19 November 2024, the Defence Ministers of the 27 EU Member States, including Luxembourg’s Minister Yuriko Backes, attended the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Brussels.

The date marked 1,000 days since Russia launched its full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine.

As reported by Luxembourg’s Directorate of Defence, the FAC opened with a discussion by the European Union Defence Ministers on EU military support for Ukraine. The ministers discussed the EU’s military assistance measures to Ukraine, with a focus on:

- the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine), in which the Luxembourg Army is participating;
- the initiative to provide Ukraine with one million rounds of 155 mm ammunition per year, for which the Luxembourg Defence department placed an order in 2023;
- the use of windfall profits from frozen Russian assets in support of Ukraine;
- the European Peace Facility and the implementation of the Ukraine Assistance Fund.

The EU Defence Ministers received an update on the situation on the frontline and on Ukraine’s current priorities from their Ukrainian counterpart, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, and from President’s Volodymyr Zelensky’s advisor for Strategic Affairs, Alexander Kamyshin. The ministers also discussed short- and long-term military support for Ukraine with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

Minister Backes stated: “Since the Russian invasion in 2022, Luxembourg has spent around a quarter of a billion euros on military support for Ukraine. Our support must match Ukraine’s needs, so that it can effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

At the previous FAC session, EU Defence Ministers discussed the Union’s defence preparedness, during which former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö presented his report “Safer Together: Strengthening Europe’s Civilian and Military Preparedness and Readiness”.  In her speech, Minister Backes stressed the need to improve European defence preparedness, particularly by strengthening the European defence industrial and technological base. Increased defence spending should help to fill capability gaps and additional sources of funding for this purpose should be identified. She also highlighted the importance of joint procurement and coordination between Member States as well as between EU and NATO and reducing dependency on external sources.

Minister Backes also participated in the meeting of the Steering Board of the European Defence Agency (EDA) in which the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence was discussed. The main objective of the review is to improve the coherence and coordination of Member States’ national defence plans, by identifying opportunities for collaboration and facilitating the development of common capabilities.

Minister Backes signed a letter of intent on cooperation in the field of integrated air and missile defence, initiated by the EDA. The development of integrated air and missile defence capabilities is one of the key capabilities identified by the Luxembourg government in its “2% by 2030” roadmap.

Luxembourg’s Defence Minister also held bilateral meetings with her counterparts from Finland, Antti Häkkänen, and Sweden, Pål Jonson, to discuss defence cooperation and military support for Ukraine.