EU nations rush to scrape up one million artillery rounds for Ukraine

STUTTGART, Germany — Eighteen European nations have teamed up under the European Defence Agency to jointly buy ammunition, the latest move in the European Union’s race to replenish Ukraine’s dwindling arsenal of artillery shells, officials in Brussels announced on Monday.

Defense and foreign ministers for 17 European Union nations, along with Norway, signed an agreement March 20 committing to a joint “fast-track” acquisition of one million rounds of 155-millimeter artillery within the next two years, and a seven-year process to procure multiple types and calibers of ammunition to replenish national stocks of member nations.

The announcement follows a trifecta of proposals laid out by EU foreign policy and defense chief Josep Borrell ahead of an informal meeting of the bloc’s defense ministers in Stockholm on March 7-8.

The new plan will provide “a fast-track procedure, allowing for the tendering process to be simplified and contracts put into place at short notice,” reads an EDA statement.

Brussels is setting aside €1 billion ($1 billion) for the short-term initiative, which asks member nations to give Ukraine whatever artillery munitions they have left in their stocks and additionally route newly ordered top-ups to Kyiv. Another €1 billion is available for the seven-year joint acquisition plan. Member states will be reimbursed for their purchases via the European Peace Facility (EPF), the EU’s off-budget, military aid mechanism.

Estonia, an EU member, has for the past few months urged the rest of the bloc to ramp up defense manufacturing to replenish national stockpiles of ammunition sent to Ukraine’s frontlines since Russia’s full-scale invasion began last February.

Estonian Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur hailed the Monday announcement in a statement. “Above all, Ukraine needs ammunition right now, and today we put the clear objective in writing – to send at least one million 155 mm caliber rounds of ammunition to Ukraine within the next 12 months,” Pevkur said.

The current signatories include: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, and Norway. Additional EU members have already expressed an intent to join the initiative in the future, following national procedures, per the EDA.

Borrell noted in Stockholm that the EU had already provided €450 million in reimbursements to member nations who have sent ammunition to Ukraine since the start of the war.

“Today, it’s a high-intensity war, with a lot of shots, tens of thousands every day,” he said, noting that ammunition deliveries are flowing into Ukraine daily, but they must also accelerate. “The issue is, it has to increase, more and quicker.”

“We are in war times, and we have to have – sorry to say – a war mentality,” he added. “I would prefer to talk about peace. … Unhappily, I have to talk about ammunition.”

Vivienne Machi is a reporter based in Stuttgart, Germany, contributing to Defense News' European coverage. She previously reported for National Defense Magazine, Defense Daily, Via Satellite, Foreign Policy and the Dayton Daily News. She was named the Defence Media Awards' best young defense journalist in 2020.

德国斯图加特——布鲁塞尔官员周一宣布，18个欧洲国家已在欧洲防务局的领导下联合购买弹药，这是欧盟为补充乌克兰日益减少的炮弹库而采取的最新举措。

3月20日，包括挪威在内的17个欧盟国家的国防部长和外交部长签署了一项协议，承诺在未来两年内联合“快速通道”采购100万发155毫米炮弹，并启动一项为期七年的进程，采购多种类型和口径的弹药，以补充成员国的国家库存。

此前，欧盟外交政策和国防负责人何塞普·博雷尔在 3 月 7 日至 8 日于斯德哥尔摩举行的欧盟国防部长非正式会议之前，提出了三项提案。

英国经济发展署 (EDA) 在一份声明中表示，新计划将提供“快速通道程序，简化招标流程，并可在短时间内签订合同”。

布鲁塞尔方面拨出10亿欧元（10亿美元）用于这项短期计划，该计划要求成员国将其库存中剩余的炮弹全部移交给乌克兰，并将新订购的补充弹药运往基辅。另有10亿欧元用于一项为期七年的联合采购计划。成员国的采购款项将通过欧盟预算外军事援助机制——欧洲和平基金（EPF）获得报销。

作为欧盟成员国的爱沙尼亚，在过去的几个月里一直敦促欧盟其他成员国加大国防生产力度，以补充自去年2月俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰以来运往乌克兰前线的弹药储备。

爱沙尼亚国防部长汉诺·佩夫库尔在一份声明中对周一的宣布表示欢迎。佩夫库尔说：“乌克兰现在最需要的是弹药，今天我们明确提出书面目标——在未来12个月内向乌克兰运送至少100万发155毫米口径的弹药。”

目前的签署国包括：奥地利、比利时、克罗地亚、塞浦路斯、捷克、爱沙尼亚、芬兰、法国、德国、希腊、卢森堡、马耳他、荷兰、葡萄牙、罗马尼亚、斯洛伐克、瑞典和挪威。据欧洲发展署（EDA）称，其他欧盟成员国也已表示有意在未来按照本国程序加入该倡议。

博雷尔在斯德哥尔摩指出，自战争开始以来，欧盟已经向向乌克兰运送弹药的成员国提供了 4.5 亿欧元的补偿。

“如今，这是一场高强度战争，枪声密集，每天都有数万发子弹射入，”他说道，并指出弹药每天都在源源不断地运往乌克兰，但速度必须加快。“问题在于，弹药供应必须增加，而且要更快。”

“我们正处于战争时期，很遗憾，我们不得不保持战争心态，”他补充道。“我更愿意谈论和平……但不幸的是，我不得不谈论弹药问题。”

薇薇安·马奇是驻德国斯图加特的一名记者，主要负责《防务新闻》的欧洲报道。她此前曾为《国家防务杂志》、《防务日报》、《卫星通讯》、《外交政策》和《代顿每日新闻》撰稿。2020年，她荣获防务媒体奖最佳青年防务记者称号。