Five European states are planning to announce a joint plan to invest in military drones to strengthen the defense industry. We are talking about France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Great Britain.
This was reported by Reuters with reference to a document that the agency studied, as well as a source in the Polish Ministry of Defense, informs the portal PromPolitInform.
According to the document, five EU countries intend to cooperate in the development of drones.
Reuters notes that the war in Ukraine has demonstrated how interceptor drones can be an effective alternative to expensive air defense missiles. Kyiv’s European allies are eager to learn from this experience.
The meeting of defense ministers will be held on February 20 in Krakow. The talks will be attended by the heads of the defense departments of France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Britain.
The meeting comes amid increased European Union defence capabilities and growing doubts about Washington’s commitment to defending the continent within the NATO alliance.
The statement, seen by Reuters and which may yet be amended, indicated that ministers support a real increase in the production capacity of the European defense industrial base.
They also welcome the EU’s commitment to give member states greater financial flexibility for defence spending and to create lending tools.
At the same time, the document notes that the role of the EU is to support defense capabilities that remain at the national level.
European Ministers also pledge to cooperate within NATO and the EU to counter hybrid threats from the Russian Federation, as well as to continue to support Ukraine and efforts to find peace.
Photo: Frontliner. Heavy drone of Ukrainian production “Heavy Shot.”
