The High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, has assured from Poland this Friday that the military support to the Ukrainian Army exceeds 3.1 billion euros from the European Fund for Peace (EFFP).
«If I add to this figure the amount of bilateral support that member states are providing to Ukraine, we are reaching almost 9 billion euros, three times more, which is an impressive amount in such a short time,» he stressed during a visit to the Brzeg training center in Poland.
Borrell stressed that the EU Military Advisory Mission will train a total of 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers, which means a total budget of 100 million for the EU. Currently, about 1,100 soldiers are being trained in different camps.
The head of European diplomacy also stressed that they will provide 16 million euros for military equipment for training purposes. «Other countries will join us,» he assured, giving the example of Norway, which although it is not a member of the EU has said it will support the mission with about 15 million.
Borrell has announced, in the framework of his visit, that the European Union is going to open a Cyber Defense Laboratory together with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, led by Oleksii Reznikov, to allow Kiev «to advance the skills necessary to defend Ukraine from the cyber-attacks it is suffering».
The EU High Representative also dedicated a few words to the Ukrainian Army, recalling the failure of the Russian Armed Forces in the «conquest» of Kiev, as well as their subsequent withdrawal from key territories in Ukraine.
«They have proved that they are, in real fighting, one of the best armies in the world. They have been resisting Russian aggression (as) no one could have expected,» he has explained, adding that they are pushing back Russian forces.
