Luxembourg Allocates €80M to Fund Drones, EW Systems for Ukraine

29 November, 2024 Flags of Ukraine and Luxembourg, illustrative image. Photo from the network Luxembourg has allocated EUR80 million for the purchase of Ukrainian weapons for the needs of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in 2025.

Maria Mezentseva, Deputy Head of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the European Union, announced this during a telethon. "Luxembourg, for the first time in the history of this small but wealthy country, decided to provide direct funding: more than EUR200 million have been allocated since February 2022, and another EUR80 million is envisaged for 2025 for the purchase of Ukrainian weapons," she said. As part of the procurement, the money will be allocated for drones, surveillance systems, and electronic warfare systems.

In addition, according to the MP, Luxembourg is also actively working on joint projects in the field of satellite communications and drone production.

Military assistance from Luxembourg

Luxembourg began providing military assistance to Ukraine in the spring of 2022, and in May 2022, it was announced that it had transferred weapons worth EUR50 million. Later that year, a batch of HMMWVs from the Ministry of Defense's stockpile was also transferred.

Loading of military equipment from Luxembourg to Ukraine on an A400M aircraft. March 2022.

Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Luxembourg

However, the country's own stockpile was quickly exhausted, and Luxembourg switched to purchasing weapons from manufacturers for the needs of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. Back in 2022, a batch of Czech Primoco One 150 drones was purchased and handed over. In total, £75 million worth of military aid was transferred in 2022.

In February 2023, it was reported that Luxembourg had set up a unit to purchase weapons for Ukraine. They were to study the commercial arms markets in Europe and the United States. "We are flexible, and so we can go and buy on the market what they need and deliver it directly to them," the Minister of Defense of Luxembourg Francois Bausch added.

In 2024, the country also joined the Artillery Coalition, the Drone Coalition, and the IT Coalition. In particular, in 2024, Luxembourg allocated EUR5 million for the purchase of a self-propelled 155-mm Caesar self-propelled howitzer.

Caesar self-propelled guns of the Armed Forces. Photo credits: Joint Forces Task Force

In July 2024, Luxembourg and Ukraine signed a security agreement under which Luxembourg pledged to provide military assistance for 10 years.

"The Participants take note that Luxembourg provided Ukraine with military assistance worth a total value of EUR74,4 million in 2022 and EUR96 million in 2023.

At the time of signature of the present agreement, Luxembourg has allocated EUR80 million in military support to Ukraine for 2024.

Luxembourg will continue with the same dynamics to provide military assistance and support to Ukraine for the duration of this Agreement, subject to parliamentary approval," one of the clauses of the agreement states.