A proposal by the European Commission to use EU funds to ramp up ammunition production in support of Ukraine was 'completely unacceptable,' Malta's former prime minister and Labour MEP Alfred Sant told the European Parliament.
Speaking in Brussels on the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP), Sant said that while one agreed with the overall aim of fully supporting Ukraine in repelling the Russian invasion, the diversion of European resources towards the full-blast production of ammunition was not an acceptable way forward.
The Act in Support of Ammunition Production is a direct response to European leaders' call to urgently deliver ammunition and missiles to Ukraine and help Member States refill their stocks by introducing targeted measures. This will facilitate the ramp-up of ammunition production capacity within the European Union, allowing the European defence industry to better support Ukrainian and Member States’ armed forces.
Sant noted that since its inception the European Union aimed to establish a union via economic and social convergence between its Member States, with separately a European defence union. The latter was rejected by national parliaments.
He acknowledged that the convergence project continued successfully along political, economic, social, environmental and cultural dimensions. However, “in recent years, security and defence issues have been hitched to this approach on the basis of ad hoc rationales and responses covering particular geostrategic situations”.
Sant warned that these commitments went beyond what new Member States, in particular neutral ones bargained for when joining the Union. “Justified on the grounds that they formed part of Member States’ target of achieving ever closer unity and financed from the European Union’s common budget, their legitimacy remains questionable”, he emphasized.
The report was adopted with 446 votes in favour, 67 against and 112 abstentions. Sant voted against.
Earlier, Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer also said he had voted against the proposal.