Brussels, 9 May 2025
On Monday, 12 May, the European Union and the Ukrainian government will co-host the second EU-Ukraine Defence Industry Forum in Brussels to strengthen defence industrial cooperation amid Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.
More than 500 participants — including representatives from European and Ukrainian defence industries, government bodies, EU institutions, partner countries, and key organisations — will attend. The forum will feature a high-level conference in the morning, followed by an afternoon business matchmaking session and exhibition.
For its second edition, the Forum will continue to promote the integration of the Ukrainian defence industry into the European defence technological and industrial base, in line with the goals of the Joint White Paper on European Defence Readiness 2030. The aim of the forum is to identify concrete cooperation between companies, contributing to accelerate the innovation cycle based on battlefield experience and the production of the defence systems Ukraine needs to defend itself.
High Representative/Vice-President Kaja Kallas will participate via video address. Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius will participate in person alongside the Ukrainian Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, Herman Smetanin. The opening remarks will be streamed on EBS.
The EU-Ukraine Defence Industry Forum is part of EU’s broader support to Ukraine in its fight for sovereignty, freedom and independence against Russia’s illegal war of aggression. The EU is the biggest public investor in the Ukrainian defence industry with €1.4 billion from ‘windfall profits’ (net profits from immobilised Russian Central Bank assets) channelled to accelerate the production of military equipment, from artillery systems to drones.
The event is organised with the support of the Polish presidency of the Council of the EU and the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe.
Source – EU Commission