Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkiänen called on the West to immediately increase support for Ukraine and provide financing for the delivery of ammunition.
Europe did not realize the seriousness of the war
Häkkänen emphasized in the Yle program "Ykkösaamu" that Europe did not realize the seriousness of the war through the prism of history and did not provide Ukraine with sufficient support.
Money to support arms in Ukraine must be found immediately.
Antti Häkkiänen
Minister of Defense of Finland
The head of the Ministry of Defense also emphasized the importance of increasing the own production of weapons in the EU countries. There are already some successes in this, said Häkkiänen.
European countries were able to increase their own production and are close to achieving the goal.
Ammunition for Ukraine
The EU's goal is to supply Ukraine with one million artillery pieces this year.
In February, the Czech Republic announced that it had found 800,000 pieces of artillery ammunition in countries outside the EU. She appealed to other EU and NATO countries to help finance the purchases.
The estimated cost of ammunition is about 1.3 billion euros. The decision on financing has not yet been made.
Belgium announced that it would allocate 200 million euros to the initiative. The Netherlands — more than 100 million euros. Canada — 30 million Canadian dollars (about 23 million US dollars)
According to estimates, about 1.3 million shells will be produced in EU countries by the end of this year, and further growth in production is expected in 2025.
