The European Union (EU) has signed an agreement with Ukraine for joint drone production. Defense cooperation that had been carried out between individual countries has been expanded to the EU level.
On the 15th (local time), according to Euronews and other foreign media, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and signed a drone agreement with Ukraine.
In a speech at Ukraine's National Day ceremony, Commission President von der Leyen emphasized, "With this agreement, we will bring together Ukraine's creativity and Europe's large-scale industrial capacity."
Commission President von der Leyen added, "Your knowledge of drones is truly unique," and "We must leverage these capabilities."
Previously, Ukraine had individually signed defense industry agreements with each country, including joint drone production. In the course of the war with Russia, it pushed its independently developed drone technology to the forefront, which came to be called "drone diplomacy."
Commission President von der Leyen approved a plan to allocate €10 billion (about 11 trillion won) for drone, missile, and fighter jet procurement out of the EU's €90 billion (about 156 trillion won) in loans. Of this, €1 billion will be executed for drone support.
With former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who had a strong pro-Russia stance and opposed aid to Ukraine, stepping down, the overall situation surrounding Ukraine is seen to have improved significantly.
On Apr. 4, after the former prime minister Orban lost power in the Hungarian general election, the EU began disbursing €90 billion in loan support to Ukraine. Ukraine's EU accession talks are also said to be speeding up.
Meanwhile, Commission President von der Leyen was selected as a recipient of the newly established Ukrainian "European Order" in recognition of her contributions to defending Ukraine's rights and supporting its EU accession.