NATO, EU vow more support for Ukraine to defend itself
NATO and the EU vowed Tuesday to bolster their backing for Ukraine to fight off Russia's invasion and ramp up cooperation between Europe and the US-led alliance.
Longstanding designs by NATO and EU to forge greater cooperation have gained impetus from the West's support of Ukraine.
"We must continue to strengthen the partnership between NATO and the European Union. And we must further strengthen our support to Ukraine," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said after signing a joint declaration with the EU's top officials. Countries in NATO and the EU-which share 21 members-have funnelled billions of dollars of arms to Kyiv that have helped it push back Moscow's forces.
The United States, Germany and France have announced they will now also supply Ukraine with armoured fighting vehicles-but Kyiv has pleaded for modern heavy tanks to be sent as well.
"I think that Ukraine should get all the necessary military equipment they need and they can handle to defend the homeland," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
"This means of course, advanced air defence systems, but also other types of advanced military equipment, as long as it is necessary to defend Ukraine." Stoltenberg said Kyiv's Western backers will meet next week with Ukraine's defence minister "to discuss exactly what types of weapons are needed and how can allies provide those weapons".
"This is not only about adding more systems, more platforms, more weapons, but also ensuring that the platforms, the weapons we have already provided, are working as they should," he said.
Moscow's attack on Ukraine has upended the European security order and spurred calls for the EU and NATO to work more closely together to protect the continent.
Factory orders in Germany dove 5.3% from a month earlier in November 2022, the largest decline over a year, according to provisional data released on Friday.
The market forecast was a 0.5% decline for the month, following a downwardly revised 0.6% rise in October. New orders have reached their lowest level since July 2020 due to an 8.1% monthly drop in foreign orders, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said in a statement.
New orders from the euro area decreased by 10.3% and from countries outside the single currency zone sank by 6.8% compared to last October.
At the same time, domestic orders fell by 1.1% in the same period. On an annual basis, new factory orders fell by a calendar-adjusted 11% compared to November 2021.
The European Commission has identified Cameroon as a "non-cooperating country," banning import of seafood caught in waters of the Central African country.
"The Commission decided to identify Cameroon as a non-cooperating country in the fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, giving it a so-called 'red card'," the Commission said in a statement on Thursday. "From now onwards EU Member States shall refuse the importation of fishery products from Cameroon even when accompanied by catch certificates validated by the national authorities," it continued.
The IUU fishing is "one of the most serious threats" to the sustainable exploitation of living aquatic resources, the commission said, adding that it has a "zero-tolerance approach" towards it.
Cameroon is one of four non-EU countries that are currently on the Commission's "red card" list, alongside Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Comoros, and Cambodia.