For several days, France has multiplied the announcements about new military aid to Ukraine. On October 7, Emmanuel Macron revealed “A special fund of 100 million euros“what will allow Ukraine”if necessary, buy the materials he needs most“. According to the information of our partners worldFrance may also provide new Caesar guns, taken from a Danish order, after 18 have already been delivered.
The French state is satisfied that it actively participated in the war for several months. In addition to Caesars, France supplied Milan and Mistral missiles, dozens of advanced armored vehicles (VAB), anti-tank mines and various protective equipment. It also provided logistical support by providing storage facilities as well as fuel and ammunition.
However, it is still difficult to accurately count the list of equipment sent since the beginning of the conflict, because unlike other partners of Ukraine, France keeps it secret. However, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) ranks France as a loser in terms of military aid. Since the start of the conflict, the German think tank has been cataloging and measuring military, financial and humanitarian aid pledged to Ukraine using its tool called the Ukraina Support Tracker. It is based on information from official state sources and international media. It is therefore impossible to count the sending of material which is not the subject of any communication, as is the case in France.
France is behind Norway, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Estonia
In its latest report, which takes into account the update from August 4 to October 3, the institute puts France in a poor position, behind much more modest countries such as Estonia, Latvia or even the Czech Republic. Thus, in terms of arms supplies and financial aid for military purposes, France occupies only 13th place with an investment of 230 million euros. By comparison, the United Kingdom estimates its military aid at almost four billion euros, Poland at 1.8 billion euros, and Germany at 1.2 million. The United States is outclassed with almost €27 billion in aid.
However, the French authorities deny these figures. “The ranking table does not reflect the whole realityAt the beginning of October, Minister of Armies Sébastien Lecornu estimated, regretting that France’s financial contribution to the European Peace Fund, up to 450 million euros, or 20% of the fund, is not taken into account. “This ranking considers what was promised, not what was delivered.“, he said, emphasizing the fact that France has kept its obligations, unlike other countries.
Another graph from IfW Kiel seems to prove him right. It distinguishes between the promised material and the actual delivered to Ukraine. In this game, France returns to 8th place and can claim to have delivered 100% of the promised equipment, while the US only sent… 16%. But Poland, Estonia and Latvia are in the same situation as France, while Germany has almost reached its target (81%).
Obvious restrictions on shares
On the other hand, France, frankly, rises in the ranking, if we take into account all the help – military, humanitarian and financial. He ranks 8th with just over a billion assists in total. But it still lags behind some more modest countries like Norway or Poland.
This difference is even more telling when compared to the GDP of each country. France captured only 30e in the ranking (0.04% of GDP) and even surpassed Luxembourg. If we add its participation in the European effort, then France is slightly behind at 23e rating (0.15% of GDP). By comparison, Latvia and Estonia contribute 1.01% and 0.95% of their GDP respectively to help Ukraine, counting their European share.
These various graphs, if approached with caution because France only rarely communicates on the equipment in use, show the limits of the reserves of the French army and some of its European neighbors. Especially when it comes to heavy weapons. According to IfW Kiel, the supplies represent about 2% of the total stockpiles of tanks, 4% of howitzers and 5% of multiple rocket launcher systems (MRLS) in NATO and EU countries. Two of the main EU countries have now supplied Ukraine with significant shares of their supplies: Germany with 12% of its howitzers and MRLS, and France with 15% of its MRLS.
Source: Le Figaro
