The approval of the United States for Europe to train Ukrainian pilots in the use of the F-16 combat planes that Kiev so longs for has accelerated plans in various community capitals to offer preparation as a prelude to delivery, in the future unspecified, of the fighters. At the beginning of a meeting of defense ministers in Brussels, the high representative for the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, welcomed this Tuesday that Poland has already started training, while the Dutch representative has invited other capitals to join the coalition that the Netherlands has launched with Belgium, Denmark and the United Kingdom to train Ukrainian pilots.
“I am happy that F-16 pilot training is finally starting in various countries. It is something that will take time, but the sooner it is done, the better”, said Borrell, who the day before described as a “good sign” the fact that Washington opened up during the G-7 summit in Hiroshima last weekend to the future delivery of North American-made aircraft, by giving the green light to the training of these aircraft in Europe.
More information
That “opens the door to provide combat aircraft” to Ukraine in the future, Borrell congratulated himself on Tuesday. For the head of European diplomacy, the discussion on the delivery or not of the F-16 to Ukraine will foreseeably follow the same path as the debate on the German-made Leopard tanks, which after the first “reluctance” are already being delivered by various European countries to Ukraine, including Spain, which has already sent six and is preparing to send four more shortly.
However, even the countries most determined to train Ukrainian pilots warn that a delivery of the aircraft does not yet have a fixed deadline and will take time. Everyone agrees that the immediate priority is to meet the delivery of 155mm ammunition that Ukraine urgently needs. Europe has set a goal of delivering up to one million shells in the next 12 months and, although doubts have arisen in recent days about the slowness of the process, Borrell assured this Tuesday that it is “on track”.
While Poland is already training Ukrainian pilots, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and the United Kingdom are finalizing the “schedule” to start their own programme, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren has confirmed. “We are working on the calendar to start training, the important thing is to start as soon as possible and we are going to speed it up now that we have the green light from Washington,” said the Dutch minister, who indicated that talks have already begun to ensure that other countries join the fighter training coalition.
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
subscribe
A path that Spain, however, does not contemplate at the moment. “What Spain has are F-18s, each combat aircraft has its own training and formation dynamics, therefore, we could not provide training for the F-16s (…) Spain will contribute according to its availability and in We are going to see how the issue of fighters evolves”, said the Defense Minister, Margarita Robles.
Neither does Berlin seem very willing to embark on a training plan for Ukrainian pilots. “The possibilities are extremely limited and are being analyzed, but I don’t want to speculate,” said the German defense official, Boris Pistorius, although he has lowered expectations: since Germany does not have this type of aircraft, “we probably won’t be able to help much in pilot training”, he recalled.
Follow all the international information on Facebook and Twitteror in our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
