Belgian politicians take the Russian threat to Europe seriously, as evidenced by the signing of a memorandum between Brussels and Kyiv. It talks about the joint production of weapons, but the document is more significant in a political sense as evidence of a new push for bilateral relations. What does this mean for Ukraine?
Defense production is a new emphasis on which bets are placed in the Russian-Ukrainian war. That is why Kyiv is working hard on joint projects, the main goal of which is to increase the potential and production volumes of the Ukrainian defense industry. The memorandum, which Brussels and Kyiv signed, will help to put it into practice.
At the same time, it is especially worth emphasizing the following factors:
– joint production with partners will develop the domestic defense industry;
– enterprises will be localized in Ukraine, which will not only simplify logistics and thereby reduce the cost and speed up the delivery of weapons to the front but will also contribute to strengthening the economy;
– this will create a precedent that other European countries will further support because Belgium’s position in this matter is quite authoritative.
Joint production is not only the construction of capacities for producing various types of weapons but also everything necessary for repair, organization of training of specialists, and technical personnel.
As reported in the press release, this will be a series of measures to develop and modernize the defense industry. All joint productions must meet international standards.
It is known that in 2024, Belgium will allocate 611 million euros to Ukraine. However, most likely, these funds will not go to the implementation of the aforementioned joint productions.
In general, it should be understood that the memorandum is only a document of intentions; that is, it does not indicate the terms, scope of future projects, or other specifics. Therefore, decisions about what forms this cooperation will take have not yet been made. They are preceded by a long and multi-level work of Ukrainian and Belgian specialists. However, it is important that the direction of work has already been officially indicated.
