EU pledges further EUR 500 mln in military aid to Ukraine: Polish defence minister

The European Union will spend an additional EUR 500 million on weapons for war-hit Ukraine, Poland’s defence minister has told reporters. 

Poland's Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau and Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak in Brussels on Monday.

PAP/EPA/Olivier Hoslet

Mariusz Błaszczak delivered the news after a meeting of EU foreign and defence ministers in Brussels on Monday.

Talking to reporters after the talks, Błaszczak said Poland had been in favour of the move, which was expected to double the EU’s military aid to Ukraine.

Minister @mblaszczak: 🇪🇺 will increase the amount of money previously allocated to help Ukraine. Our decision was to increase this sum and increase the scale of support for Ukraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/jNRMihkwqm

— Poland MOD 🇵🇱 (@Poland_MOD) March 21, 2022

'Strategic Compass'

He added that the bloc’s foreign and defence ministers also adopted the so-called Strategic Compass, a document that outlines the EU’s future security and defence policy, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.

Błaszczak told reporters the new security strategy would "reduce the risk of the EU competing with the NATO alliance in security matters."

Monday’s developments came as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued for the fourth week after Vladimir Putin launched it on February 24.

(pm/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP