Billions from the EU, deadly shortages at the front line
Europe is providing billions in support for Ukraine. But at the front line it is precisely the simple things that are missing: cheap generators, old cars, drones, second-hand laptops. These deadly shortages are not abstract: they cost lives every day and have a direct impact on the course of the war. The bitter irony is that you could close this gap with a fraction of the existing support packages: pocket change on an EU scale.
Anyone who talks to volunteers or simply reads along in places like r/Ukraine sees a different picture from the press releases. There, busloads of supplies are crowdfunded: off-road vehicles, generators, drones, night-vision devices, laptops. Not financed by states, but by well-meaning individuals from all over the world. The front is running on goodwill, not on the billions from the support packages.
The cause is not ill will, but an incomplete architecture. Aid is organised in enormous programmes, with strict conditions, audits and accountability. That is understandable for macro support, but deadly slow for practical needs at the front. Everything is geared towards control afterwards, almost nothing towards speed and simplicity now. The national accounts balance, but the soldier in the trench has to beg for a generator.
That is why, alongside the large packages, a practical system is needed. A fund for the front, financed by the EU and/or the member states, that reimburses invoices for simple, essential items: "four new tyres for ATV", "two generators for position X", "three laptops for drone unit Y". Registered front-line units and recognised volunteer networks submit receipts; after a brief check, payment is made within days. Wherever possible, the EU and the countries conclude framework contracts for generators, vehicles, drones and laptops, so that delivery can be made from existing stocks. For the EU and its member states this is pocket change. For the units at the front it is the difference between holding the line and being killed.
Parliaments and governments must be acutely aware of this. Every representative who declares his or her "unconditional support" for Ukraine should have to answer one question: how many generators, vehicles, drones and laptops have actually reached the front line as a result of your policies? If that answer remains vague, then our support is not adequate, and you do not win a war that way.