Australia: Prime Minister Mr. Anthony Albanese announced that Australia plans to deploy a surveillance aircraft from the Royal Australian Air Force to Germany. The main objective of this deployment is to provide support to Ukraine by safeguarding crucial humanitarian and military supply routes.
The chosen aircraft is the E-7A Wedgetail, renowned as one of Australia’s advanced platforms for early warning and airborne control. It will be stationed in Germany for a period of six months, accompanied by a contingent of approximately 100 crew members and support staff. Albanese shared this information during a press conference held in Berlin.
“This is an important contribution. Australia, of course, is a long way from Europe. But one of the things that this war has done is remind us that in today’s interconnected, globalised world, an event such as the land war in Europe has an impact on the entire world. We’ve been impacted by our economy, and we’ve been shocked by the brutal invasion and the disregard for the international rules-based order, which we had come to think was something that we hoped would be a permanent presence. So it is important that the democratic world react to defend the rules-based order,” Mr. Albanese stated, standing alongside German Chancellor Mr. Olaf Scholz.
“It is truly very important to know how much Australia supports Ukraine. Ukraine needs this support,” the PM added, noting the backing for Kyiv from countries beyond Europe.
Kyiv began a renewed counteroffensive a month ago to take back lands occupied by Russia since it began its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. Western countries have promised to stand by Kyiv, providing it with the weapons, military equipment, and ammunition it needs.
“The deployment of the E-7A Wedgetail as an additional early warning capability will help ensure that vital support flowing to Ukraine by the international community is protected,” Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Richard Marles, said in the statement.
The Wedgetail will operate only in European airspace, avoiding Ukrainian, Russian, or Belarusian skies, the statement said.
Mr. Albanese was in Berlin ahead of the NATO summit, which starts in Vilnius on Tuesday. Australia has been invited to the meeting as an Indo-Pacific Four partner, along with Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.
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