Belgium to provide a military aid package to Ukraine for funds seized from the Russian Federation
13 May, 2023 Flag of Belgium. The government of Belgium has approved a new aid package for Ukraine. It will be financed by the funds seized from Russian sanctioned persons.
The news was published on the official government website of Belgium. On Friday, May 12, the Belgian government approved a new military and humanitarian assistance package for Ukraine in the amount of EUR92 million. To finance this aid, the funds were taken from the tax revenues received from Russian financial assets frozen in Belgium.
Half of this amount, i.e. EUR46 million, will go to providing new military support, including armored vehicles, weapons and ammunition. One of the main aims of the new military aid is to deliver the first batches of weapons to Ukraine as soon as possible.
"How fast the new equipment can be delivered to Ukraine will be the key to success. This new package of arms and ammunition will help fill the needs in the field at very short notice," Minister of Defense Ludivine Dedonder said. A further EUR46 million will be made available to support the Ukrainian civilian population.
The lion's share, EUR24 million, will be spent on additional humanitarian support, in coordination with the UN, to cover basic needs such as education, health and food supply in major cities and war zones. At the beginning of January, Militarnyi reported on the allocation by the Kingdom of Belgium of a record-breaking military aid package worth EUR90 million. The package will include AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles for the Ukrainian NASAMS air defense systems.
In addition, a certain number of launchers for Mistral air defense systems was transferred. Belgium has also handed over an unknown amount of small arms, including SCAR assault rifles, FN Minimi light machine guns and M2 Browning machine guns.
A Ukrainian serviceman armed with a Belgian FN Minimi machine gun.
In addition, in March, the Belgian government agreed to transfer 240 Volvo military vehicles from its own armed forces to Ukraine. These trucks have been in service since 1992.
The Army plans to phase out these vehicles and replace them with newer ones. The phase-out of vehicles has been planned for several years, but it was decided to accelerate the process.
Military truck of Belgian army.
2008 year.
Photo credits: ibericatruck