Belgium, Europe: The government of Belgium agrees to donate about €12 million in military aid to Ukraine, the Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder made this confirmation in an interview, as per the sources.
Since Russia’s full-scale military operation against war-torn Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence of Belgium has already transferred €45 million of equipment to Ukraine.
As per the minister, Belgium will transport heavy machine guns, ammunition, as well as other equipment from Belgian arms manufacturer FN Herstal.
Moreover, “We will also send non-lethal equipment for the winter, helmets, spare provisions and night vision equipment.”
The authorities of Belgium have offered training to the Ukrainian forces as part of the European Union’s training missions. Dedonder mentioned in the statement that Belgium is prepared to provide further training in maritime as well as land mine clearance and marksman training with the Belgian special forces.
Along with this, a decision on which the countries will provide training is expected at the end of the month as well as will be made by the European Union.
Keen to highlight the non-lethal support it offers, Belgium has committed to caring for 45 Ukrainian injured military personnel as well as chronically ill patients from war-torn Ukraine.
In addition, by mid-2023, Dedonder stated that the new troops in Belgium would be deployed to the Constanta NATO base in Romania, close to the border with Ukraine.
The base has served as a forward operating base for NATO to dissuade Russia from violating Europe’s borders. Dutch troops have since replaced the troops from Belgium on deployment n Romania as part of NATO’s troops’ rotations.
Furthermore, Belgium will contribute to NATO’s aerial defence of Europe, deploying new aircraft to the Baltic.
Dedonder said, “We plan to redeploy 6 F-16s to Estonia; I will present a request to parliament and the government in a few weeks. Finally, our mine hunter, the Narcisse, will be deployed in the Mediterranean… It has around 40 men on board.”
