About half of the European Union countries support the joint production of ammunition. We are building a coalition that would be ready to do this: finance, co-finance as much as possible, said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Saturday in Munich.
President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki are in the Bavarian capital for the 59th Munich Security Conference. The head of the Polish government said at a press conference that “we must make our partners in Western Europe, our partners from across the ocean, with whom I also talked a lot yesterday, aware of how important it is to stop, but also how important it is to build an appropriate deterrent force.”
He reminded that “Poland allocates three percent of GDP, and actually this year, if we implement our purchasing plans, it will be 4 percent of GDP for armaments.” – This is one of the highest rates among all NATO countriesat the level of those countries that until recently were beyond our reach from the perspective of the proportion of expenditure on armaments in relation to GDP – noted Morawiecki.
He added that this topic was often discussed in Munich. – NATO must deliver on its promises in Madrid, it must build adequate rapid reaction and deterrence forces. These are fundamental security issues – said the head of the government.
Morawiecki on the production of ammunition
He said he had spoken to the chancellor about it German Olaf Scholz, with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, but also with many other leaders.
– We are also talking about very specific projects. We talked with the president (of the European Commission Ursula – ed.) von der Leyen about ammunition production projects. This was a topic discussed at the last European Council in Brussels, but some countries, I do not want to point fingers, did not react positively to it. I am glad that the President is taking up this subject. She is certainly an advocate of support for Ukraine. It is a large and very powerful ally, said the Prime Minister.
– At the same time, we are also constructing – I also discussed this with the Prime Minister of Estonia, because she raises this topic – a coalition of countries that would be ready to jointly produce ammunition – finance, co-finance the production of ammunition to the greatest extent possible – Morawiecki said.
As he said, “everyone who knows the characteristics of theatre war in Ukrainethey know perfectly well that the basic problem, the basic deficit there is the ammunition.” – We in Poland are also rapidly developing the production capacity of ammunition, of various calibers, but we need it both for our own stocks and (in order – ed.) to transfer the ammunition for Ukraine – said Morawiecki.
When asked when decisions on joint production and purchase of ammunition in the European Union could be taken and how many countries currently support this solution, the Prime Minister said that at the last meeting of the European Council “only a few” countries were ready to cooperate in this matter, but “today more and more countries agree. He estimated that this is currently about half of the EU countries.
Mateusz Morawiecki in Munich
Morawiecki mentioned that at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many countries “defend themselves” against sending weapons to Ukraine.
– Many countries of the free world, the European Union defended themselves against this, did not want to supply weapons, hesitated whether to supply helmets and bulletproof vests. Then we overcame this resistance – later more and more heavy weapons were delivered: infantry fighting vehicles, then tanks – he said. He added that Poland had built a coalition for the transfer of modern tanks to Ukraine and “more countries are declaring their readiness to deliver them.”
– Our persistent, very systematic work on the international arena, meetings with Western leaders (…) serve to convince as many countries of Western Europe and the free world as possible that support for Ukraine today means peace, peace and security for Europe tomorrow – assessed the Prime Minister.
He added that he intends to meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday.
Morawiecki: Ukraine cannot be some kind of buffer zone
The Prime Minister noted that many politicians in Western Europe say that Russia should not win this war and Ukraine should not lose it. “We are trying to change this narrative, to convey a different narrative: Russia must lose this war, and Ukraine must win this war,” he stressed.
Morawiecki pointed out that this is not a minor semantic difference, but a fundamental difference in the approach to what is happening beyond our eastern border. According to the Prime Minister, as a free world, we must prepare for long-term deterrence and containment against Russia.
– We also cannot agree that Ukraine should be a kind of buffer zone, a transitional zone. If we want to ensure lasting peace in Europe, lasting security, then Ukraine must be integrated with the free world – integrated with the EU, and ultimately also integrated with NATO, Morawiecki pointed out. As he added, these are the basic values ​​that will lead us to long-term peace.
For this to happen, he said, we must change our attitude and we must have the will and determination to support Ukraine as long as it wins this war, and Russia must lose this war.
Talks about Ukraine at the Munich Security ConferenceTVN24, Reuters
Prime Minister Morawiecki also assessed that if Ukraine ceased to be supported by the supply of weapons and ammunition, it would soon fail, “and Putin would look for another victim.” “He would only be looking for the next country to be conquered,” he said.
As he stated, “Russia has awakened the worst demons of the 19th and 20th centuries – colonialism, imperialism, nationalism, chauvinism.” – Today’s Russia is a de facto totalitarian country again – said the Prime Minister.