Norway officially became part of the international coalition of drones, which is aimed at strengthening the defense capabilities of Ukraine. Thanks to its participation, the number of countries participating in the coalition has increased to 18, which allows to expand financing, ordering, production and supply of unmanned aerial vehicles for the Armed Forces. About this reported The Ministry of Defense of Norway in the X social network.
The document on Norway’s accession was signed by the country’s Minister of Defense Tore Onshuus Sandvik. The head of the Latvian Ministry of Defense Andris Spruds was also present at the signing ceremony.
We will remind you that the idea of creating an international initiative to support Ukraine with unmanned technologies was first discussed on December 12, 2023, during a meeting between the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umyerov and his Latvian counterpart Andris Spruds in Kyiv. Then a decision was made to create a “coalition of drones and EW”.
On July 10, 2024, the British government announced that the participating countries had signed a memorandum of understanding, which provides for the creation of a special fund of 45 million euros.
By mid-January 2024, the coalition already had almost 20 countries working on the supply of thousands of new drones for the Armed Forces. According to the Latvian Ministry of Defense, the alliance includes: Latvia, Ukraine, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Luxembourg, and now Norway.
In general, the participating countries have already allocated more than half a billion euros for the purchase of drones for Ukraine.
The coalition continues to expand, and, according to Rustem Umerov, by the end of 2024, the amount of support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine within this project should reach 1.8 billion euros.
