We want Ukraine to participate in the SAFE project. (...) We must keep our support for Ukraine. This concerns military equipment, backing and political support," said Deputy Minister of Defence Paweł Zalewski after the E5 Group summit. The gathering of the heads of defence departments of Germany, France, large Britain, Poland and Italy was held in Berlin.
Meeting of defence ministers of Group E5.
At Bendlerblock, the office of the German MON, present met defence ministers of the 5 European states that are spending the most resources on safety in NATO. The Polish Deputy Prime Minister and the head of the MON represented the State Secretary Paweł Zalewski.
One of the main topics of the gathering was the question of further assistance of Ukraine. "We are firmly convinced of what we have confirmed present that Europe's safety lies in our shared responsibility, and the line of this safety goes along the front. Therefore, support for Ukraine is so important," said Paweł Zalewski at the end of the meeting. I informed: – We want to guarantee Ukraine's participation in the SAFE project.
Deputy Minister recalled that Poland is the biggest beneficiary of the programme, which assumes that the European Union lends low-interest and long-term loans to the countries and European arms companies for the improvement and supply of military equipment (from a pool of EUR 150 billion, EUR 43.7 billion was allocated to Poland). The government is preparing investment plans, which is simply a list of purchases it would like to spend these funds on. “We want cooperation to include Ukrainian companies too,” said Paweł Zalewski today. – We want to make joint venture projects between Poland and Ukraine, in Poland. This is intended to strengthen Ukrainian defence capabilities," the Deputy Minister added.
Besides supporting Kiev, politicians present have besides talked about hybrid threats to Europe. – I am very grateful to everyone who wants to increase their contribution in this area. This includes actions ‘Eastern Sentry’ and ‘Baltic Sentry’ said the Deputy of the MON, recalling the mission launched after entering the Polish airspace of Russian drones and the operation, which aims to monitor critical infrastructure deployed in the Baltic. – Thank you very much for the presence of the armed forces of large Britain, France, Germany and Italy in Poland. This presence strengthens the east flank and increases the safety of our full continent," said Paweł Zalewski.
The gathering in Berlin was besides attended by head of EU diplomacy Kaja Kallas, and thanks to the video merger the Ukrainian defence minister Denys Shmyhal participated in the discussion.
Group E5 has been operating for a year. The first E5 summit was held last November, besides in Berlin. Another gathering of European Defence Ministers – in January in Poland.
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