Belgium to give an additional 93.6 million in military aid to Ukraine
In what has been dubbed the “lagest support package ever”, Belgium’s Federal Government has announced an additional 93.6 million euro in military aid to Ukraine. The extra support for Ukraine was announced at a press conference held just after midday on Friday. The Federal Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Flemish liberal) says that coming as it does on top of the 146 million euro in military aid already given to Ukraine, this amounts to the biggest ever military aid package given to another country by Belgium.
In addition to military aid, Belgium is also giving 86 million euro to help the civilian population of Ukraine. Of this, 69 million euro will be humanitarian aid and 10.6 million euro will be given to help pay for reconstruction work in the war-ravaged country.During the press conference the Federal Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder (Francophone socialist) gave details about the nature of the military aid that Belgium is giving to Ukraine.
This will include surface-to-air missiles, anti-tank weapons, machine guns, grenades and munition. Some of this will come from stocks held by the Belgian Army, while the rest will be bought from Belgian arms manufacturers. Ms Dedonder would not go into specific details about the quantities of arms that will be sent.
The Defence Minister went on to say that armoured jeeps and lorries will also be given to the Ukrainians. All of the vehicles that will be sent to Ukraine are all in working order and in a good state of repair or will soon undergo a full service. New vehicles will be purchased for the Belgian Army to replace those that are being sent to Ukraine.
During the press conference, Ms Dedonder implied that more military aid might be forthcoming in the future.