Today at 22:01
Europe speaks of the borders of Ukraine with the Russian Federation as common with the European Union and assures of the extension of assistance to Kyiv in repelling Russian aggression. In general, Europe considers assistance to Ukraine a kind of “grafting” for its democracy. Vitaliy Sizov, a special correspondent of Ukraine’s foreign broadcasting channel FREEDOM in Europe, said this.
“European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton noted that when he visited Sweden, local officials said that EU assistance to Ukraine would be a “graft” for our democracy. I would single out two main points: today, European officials perceive the border of Ukraine with the Russian Federation and the borders of the EU countries as something in common, and assistance as a defense of democracy, as our common cause, ”the correspondent noted.
He stressed that many European enterprises will be rebuilt to meet the needs of Ukraine. The EU plans to supply Ukraine not only with shells, as was announced earlier. But also missiles, air defense and anti-tank defense systems.
“Many enterprises of the European Union will be directly rebuilt for Ukrainian needs. This, in principle, is long-term support. Because yes, there is a decision to supply 1 million units of shells to Ukraine. But we all understand that the conflict can last an indefinite amount of time. Therefore, it can be predicted that such decisions will be made on an ongoing basis. Just as they are accepted by the United States,” Sizov said.
At the same time, there are no internal debates in the European Union regarding the supply of weapons to Ukraine, the guest of the broadcast emphasized.
He recalled that on March 20, the EU member states agreed on a plan according to which Ukraine was promised to transfer 1 million shells within a year.
“For Ukraine, of course, this is a huge period of time, during which a lot of things happened, because the country is in a state of war, defending itself. But for the European bureaucracy, this is a very quick solution. In fact, less than two months have passed. And there is already an act in support of the production of ammunition for Ukraine, there is an understanding of how production will change,” Sizov summed up.
In his opinion, it is not even entirely correct to talk about the existence of some kind of internal debate in the EU, which could interfere with the production and supply of shells to Ukraine.
“Everyone understands, as Thierry Breton said, that the border with the Russian Federation is, in principle, common, and Ukraine is a de facto part of Europe. It protects this common border,” emphasized Vitaly Sizov.
Earlier, on March 20, at a meeting of EU foreign ministers, the delivery of 1 million shells to Ukraine within 12 months was agreed.
