edition
Ar Es
Al Mayadeen English
  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Feature
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Europe
  4. Arming Ukraine depleted union's weapons stockpiles: EU diplomacy chief
Europe

Arming Ukraine depleted union's weapons stockpiles: EU diplomacy chief

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 11 Dec 2022 23:17
  • 2 Shares

Since February, European states have sent billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine without almost any restraint, depleting their stockpiles.

  • EU Depleted Military Stockpiles Helping Ukraine - Borrell
    EU Depleted Military Stockpiles Helping Ukraine - Borrell

In a tone that sounded somewhat regretful, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement on Sunday that the bloc had run out of military stockpiles as it provided Ukraine with an overwhelming amount of military support. 

"This war has also been a wake-up call for all of us about our military capabilities. We have given weapons to Ukraine, but in so doing, we realised that our military stockpiles have been depleted. With conventional war returning to the heart of Europe, we also realized that we are lacking critical defense capabilities, to be able to protect ourselves from a higher level of threats on the European continent itself," he said in a statement.  

On Thursday, Borrell said before a meeting of the EDA (European Defense Agency) that the war in Ukraine has depleted the EU's weapon stockpiles, showing that it lacks "critical" capabilities to protect against threats on its border. 

"This war against Ukraine has been a brutal wake-up for many of us," Josep Borrell told a defense conference in Brussels. "We realize that our military stockpiles have been quickly depleted due to years of under-investment." 

Read more: Borrell says Africans and Balkans "do not know where Donbass is"

In May, Borrell had also announced the bloc had depleted its military hardware helping Ukraine, and urged member states to bolster their defense capabilities.

"The depleted stockpiles resulting from the military support we provided to Ukraine are the most obvious example of our shortfalls. However, this comes on top of the ones inherited from past budget cuts and underinvestment," he wrote in a blog post.

Borrell argued that the EU's defensive capabilities and military expenditure did not meet the ones he claimed the bloc needed to counter security threats at hand.

"From 1999 to 2021, EU combined defense spending increased only by 20% - against 66% for the US, 292% for Russia, and 592% for China. Certainly, one has to take into account the starting level of the military capacities, but these figures show very different trends," he said. 

He further argued that the EU needed to rake up military spending to afford modern and interoperable armed forces. He also stressed that Brussels needed to replenish its stockpile while proposing that the bloc augment its military capabilities within the next five years, mainly its air, cyber, and space-based defenses.

Read more: Turkey's unwillingness to join sanctions on Russia worries Borrell

  • Weapons
  • European Defence Agency
  • Ukraine
  • Josep Borrell

Trending Now

All
The MC-21-310 medium-range airliner, fitted with the Russian Aviadvigatel PD-14 turbofan engines, performs a test flight at the Ramenskoye airfield in Moscow, Russia August 10, 2022 (Reuters)

US pressuring Turkey to further stifle Russia: WSJ

Most Read

US unprepared for potential war with China: Study

US unprepared for potential war with China: Study

  • US & Canada
  • 23 Jan
Is this Western war on Russia simply stupidity?

Is this Western war on Russia simply stupidity?

  • Opinion
  • 22 Jan
Twitter headquarters is shown in San Francisco on Nov. 4, 2022 (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FBI created dashboard to mislabel Twitter users as Russian bots

  • US & Canada
  • 27 Jan
The Russian-manufactured Marker 2 tank-striker (Military Review)

Russia reveals Marker 2 combat robots

  • Europe
  • 26 Jan

Read this

All
Dozens of thousands rally against Netanyahu in "Tel Aviv" for the fourth consecutive week
Palestine

Tens of thousands rally against Netanyahu in "Tel Aviv": Israeli Media

  • 28 Jan
Kiev aims securing  missiles to strike Crimea: Zelensky's advisor
Politics

Kiev eyes securing missiles to strike Crimea: Zelensky's advisor

  • 28 Jan
A man on a bicycle passes the headquarters of Germany's biggest arms manufacturer Rheinmetall AG in Duesseldorf, Germany, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023 (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Europe

Rheinmetall capitalizes on Western insecurities

  • 28 Jan
14 Killed, 24 wounded after Kiev shelled hospital in Lugansk: Russia
Europe

14 Killed, 24 wounded after Kiev shelled hospital in Lugansk: Russia

  • 28 Jan
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS