Borrell: The EU has no materials for the production of ammunition

The European Union does not have enough materials to expand the production of ammunition, they have to be imported. This was stated on Tuesday at a press conference in Brussels by the head of the EU Foreign Service, Josep Borrell, presenting the first "EU Economic Security Strategy".

“To increase the production of ammunition, we lack critical resources that need to be imported. This weakens our strategic autonomy, poses a serious risk to our security,” Borrell said. “I cannot say where we get these resources from, but this issue needs to be addressed. We must have our own production in order to be able to support Ukraine and provide for our own military needs."

"These vulnerabilities can be exploited by someone as a way of economic pressure, so we need our own economic security strategy," Borrell said.The EU has already allocated about 1.5 billion euros, which should be used as financial guarantees to attract at least 15 billion euros of private investment to increase the production of artillery ammunition and missiles for multiple rocket launchers and air defense systems.

The European Commission intends in the near future to increase the production of artillery ammunition in the EU countries to 1 billion a year in order to simultaneously supply shells to Kyiv and fill the arsenals of the EU countries.