French Foreign Minister: Europeans Should Do More To Support Ukraine

2024-02-11 03:08:52

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Stephane Sejourne has said he believes that Europeans should do more for their own security and support for Ukraine. Therefore, all proposals, including the idea of Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas about military support to Ukraine, are on the table.

According to Ukrinform, the French foreign policy chief said this in an interview with France's Ouest-France, Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza and Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

"Ms Kallas' proposal is that of a loan of one hundred billion euros to be able to give visibility to Ukraine which is engaged in a protracted war. This is a proposal that we are looking at carefully. We have the European Peace Facility (EFF) which could be supplemented by five billion euros in 2024. There are also reflections on the proceeds from taxes on income generated by frozen Russian assets," Sejourne said.

According to him, the main subject is bilateral and European aid, as well as the creation of legal framework for this.

Kallas earlier proposed that all countries that are part of the coalition in support of Ukraine allocate 0.25% of their GDP for Ukraine's military needs. In her opinion, this could turn the tide of the war.

Sejourne also said that active work on a bilateral security agreement between Ukraine and France was ongoing, but he did not specify when exactly it could be signed.

"We are working on it. We discuss French capabilities and Ukrainian requests in terms of the delivery of military equipment. We will be there to provide aid to Ukraine over the long term," he said.

In the current geopolitical context, Europe needs to prepare for defense and organize it more coherently.

"The subject is existential and we must find security guarantees as Europeans. Twenty-seven of us. We will have to agree to further pool our military equipment, create interactions between our armies, and gradually have greater military integration. In industrial and operational matters. This is clearly part of our European sovereignty agenda," the minister said.

Photo: European Parliament

MENAFN11022024000193011044ID1107838799

Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.