The EU states want to support Ukraine with more arms deliveries and cooperate closely in caring for the refugees. Before the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell accused the Russian army of committing massive war crimes: “They destroy everything, bomb and kill everyone indiscriminately.” Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called the pictures from the war zone “simply heartbreaking” and also spoke of “war crimes”. She confirmed that the EU would double the volume for arms deliveries and thus increase it to a total of one billion euros. Germany will pay a further 130 million euros for this. The federal government will ensure that orders from German companies are implemented quickly, she said.
According to Baerbock, the EU must be prepared to take in eight to ten million refugees from Ukraine. At the beginning of the war, those who had a car or had relatives in other European countries fled, said Baerbock. Because of Russia’s increasingly brutal approach, more and more people would come “who have nobody in Europe, who couldn’t take anything with them.” According to the Ministry of the Interior, 225,357 refugees from Ukraine had been registered in Germany by Monday.
Because secure corridors were not enough, Baerbock suggested a “solidarity airlift”: Ukrainians could be brought directly from the EU’s external border to EU countries and North America. “Everyone has to take in refugees,” demanded Baerbock. The number for each EU country could be “in the hundreds of thousands”. There was “a lot of encouragement” for her proposal to set up “logistics hubs” for distribution in each country affected, said Baerbock in the afternoon. Germany will set up its own support platform with France and Romania in the Republic of Moldova. A donor conference is to take place in Berlin on April 5 so that the poorest country in Europe receives more resources to feed the people from the neighboring country and also to increase its energy security. This week, the EU summit will also discuss the situation of the refugees, who have so far mainly been in Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.
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Baerbock was evasive about an embargo on oil from Russia. “It’s not a question of whether we want it or not, it’s a question of how dependent we are on oil,” she said. It is about ending dependence on fossil fuels from Russia, which the federal government is working on “under high pressure”. Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis called for determination: “We cannot tire of imposing sanctions.” Like Borrell, he called it inevitable to address the energy sector: “Oil is the most important source of income for Russia.”
In the afternoon, the EU foreign ministers and the defense ministers agreed on the “strategic compass,” which EU foreign policy chief Borrell called “historic.” The new security strategy, which has been in the works for two years, aims to help the EU assert itself in a world of “complex security threats”. The images from Kabul Airport, which shocked citizens and politicians in Europe in the summer, and the realization that the United States had been dependent on the evacuation of EU citizens and Afghan local forces, contributed to the fact that a newly established rapid military An intervention force with “up to 5,000 soldiers” is set up. Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) offered that the Bundeswehr could provide the core for the “military heart” of the compass in 2025. It is important to send the signal that the EU members stand up for each other.
Picture of the destruction in Kyiv: a shopping center is no more.
(Photo: IMAGO/Matthew Hatcher/IMAGO/ZUMA Wire)
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the report grew from 27 to 47 pages. With each revision, the language towards Moscow became harsher and the description of the situation more realistic. “The return of war to Europe as a result of Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, as well as fundamental geopolitical changes, challenge our ability to disseminate our views and defend our interests,” reads a key passage. The commitment made at the informal EU summit in Versailles to invest “more and better” in defense was adopted. Under the impression of Putin’s threat of nuclear weapons, a warning of “nuclear risks” was included: alongside Russia, China is also expanding its nuclear arsenal and developing new weapon systems.
Suddenly, the importance of military mobility becomes clear: The member states should expand bridges, roads and rails in such a way that military equipment can be transported quickly. The idea of close cooperation with NATO, which was particularly important to the Eastern and Central Europeans, runs like a red thread through the compass – this is also a consequence of the Russian bombing of Ukrainian cities.