EU’s defence strategy needs to include Ukraine, von der Leyen says

(Reuters) – The European Union should take Ukraine’s military needs into account as it determines the future strategy of Europe’s defence industry, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.

“Our strategy can only be complete if it also takes into account Ukraine’s needs and Ukraine’s industrial capacity,” von der Leyen said in a speech at the annual conference of the European Defence Agency.

Von der Leyen said Ukraine should be integrated into EU defence programmes to help cater to its needs in its war against the Russian invasion.

“The first step to achieve this, is to involve Ukraine in the consultation process of the Industrial Strategy,” von der Leyen said.

“This should lead to integrating Ukraine in some of our defence programmes, with the agreement of the European Parliament and Council, where necessary.”

The commission aims to propose its European Defence Industry Programme early next year, von der Leyen said, which would also look at ways to fund the industry.

As part of this, the commission will try to see how it can get the defence industry’s contribution to Europe security recognised by sustainable financial investors, she said.

The EU’s defence industry would next year meet a target to increase its production capacity of ammunition rounds to 1 million rounds per year, von der Leyen added.

The target is separate from an EU plan to provide 1 million artillery shells and missiles to Ukraine within a year – a goal that German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and other officials have said the bloc is unlikely to reach.