Poland joins EU joint ammunition purchasing programme

Poland has joined an EU initiative on the joint purchasing of ammunition for Ukraine, the European Defence Agency (EDA) has reported.

"Three more Member States have signed up to EDA's Collaborative Procurement of Ammunition project: Spain, Lithuania and Poland," the EDA tweeted on Thursday.

Earlier this week, the agency announced that 17 EU countries and Norway had agreed on the collaborative procurement of ammunition for Ukraine, and to replenish the national stockpiles of member states.

The common procurement is aimed at reducing costs and purchasing in accordance with the needs of the countries belonging to the agreement, the EDA said.

The plan provides for the delivery of one million artillery shells to Ukraine.

So far the agreement to collectively buy ammunition has been signed by Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Norway. Other member states have already expressed their intent to join the initiative.