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Finland pledges €30 million to Czech-led ammunition initiative for Ukraine

The Czech Republic continues to rally allies to collect the necessary funds to purchase 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine as the country faces an ammunition shortage.

byIryna Voichuk

19/03/2024

2 minute read

Ukrainian soldiers carry an artillery shell.

A Ukrainian soldier carrying an artillery shell. Credit: Ukraine’s General Staff

Finland pledges €30 million to Czech-led ammunition initiative for Ukraine

Finland joined the Czech-led initiative aimed to purchase 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine, allocating €30 million, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen announced on 19 March.

Czech President Petr Pavel said his country had found about 800,000 artillery shells abroad that could be sent to Ukrainian troops within a few weeks. He said financial support is needed to deliver these munitions to Ukraine.

Finland’s defense minister announced the decision following discussions with the commander of the Czech Defense Forces on enhancing support for European and Ukrainian defense.

“In particular, we discussed the Czech initiative on ammunition. Finland will allocate 30 million euros for this initiative,” Hakkanen said.

The initiative comes as a response to the EU’s failure to meet its pledge of providing Ukraine with 1 million rounds of artillery by this month while Russia continues to produce more ammunition and receive support from North Korea.

The same day, speaking at a press conference at the Contact Group on Ukraine’s Defense in the Ramstein format, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that Germany will finance the purchase of 180,000 artillery shells through the initiative.

Earlier, Belgium announced the allocation of €200 million to the initiative, while the Netherlands pledged €250 million. Later, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and French President Emmanuel Macron also announced their countries’ decision to join the initiative but did not disclose the future contribution amount. Recently, Norway announced the country’s decision to support the initiative with $153 million. Sweden’s government announced the allocation of €30 million for the initiative within the framework of its 15th military aid package.

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