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German car giants and Asian battery kings: a match made in Hungary

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  • German, Chinese and S.Koreans head to Hungary
  • They dominate auto investment and subsidies
  • Orban’s Hungary keen to court foreign business

BERLIN/BUDAPEST, Dec 13 (Reuters) – German automakers and Asian battery suppliers are getting together in Hungary in a multi-billion-dollar marriage of convenience to drive their electric ambitions.

The companies are flocking to central Europe, where Viktor Orban’s government is defying Western wariness of China and offering generous benefits to host foreign operations and stake Hungary’s claim as a global centre for electric vehicles (EVs).

Investment in the Hungarian auto industry is being dominated by three countries – Germany, a champion carmaker, plus China and South Korea, EV battery leaders way ahead of European rivals.

Companies from those three countries have accounted for 29 out of the 31 cash subsidies handed out by Hungary for major investments in its auto and battery sector over the past decade, according to a Reuters analysis of government data that shows the scale of German, Chinese and Korean convergence there.

“Cathodes, anodes, separators, assembly lines, the full battery supply chain is here,” said Dirk Woelfer of the German-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce in Budapest. “This is a foot in the door to Europe.”

Recipients of such subsidies included the likes of German automakers BMW (BMWG.DE) and Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE), and battery makers such as China’s BYD and Korean rival Samsung SDI (006400.KS). The median subsidy level has been 15% of investment.

In total, Hungary has received over 14 billion euros ($15 billion) in foreign direct investment into its battery sector alone in the past six years, according to government figures.

Major investments are broadly classed as those worth over 5-10 million euros, varying with factors such as jobs created.

State incentives and the opportunity for automakers and battery suppliers to work next door to each other is proving a strong pull, according to interviews with about 20 industry players and consultants in Germany, Hungary, China and South Korea.

China’s CATL (300750.SZ), the world’s No. 1 EV battery maker, and Korean battery giants SK Innovation (096770.KS) and Samsung SDI, all told Reuters that the planned proximity to German carmakers was a key factor in their decisions to invest in Hungary, as well as being able to source separators and other components there.

CATL is investing $7.6 billion to build Europe’s largest battery plant in Hungary. This plant and the $2.1 billion BMW factory will both be sited in the city of Debrecen, which is attracting an ecosystem of suppliers, ranging from makers of brakes and battery cathodes to industrial machinery.

Mercedes-Benz is converting its factory in Kecskemet to produce electric cars, while Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) Audi is making cars and electric motors in Gyor.

Such big business could present a boon for Prime Minister Orban’s government as the country faces its toughest economic environment in more than a decade, with inflation running above 20%, the economy slowing and EU funds in limbo.

Yet the Hungarian EVs project also faces stiff obstacles, according to many of the industry insiders.

One key concern is the huge demands that massive battery plants will place on the electricity grid, which needs to shift away from fossil fuels towards renewables to meet the net-zero emissions targets of much of the auto industry, the people said.

A lack of specialised workers in Hungary to work in battery cell manufacturing could also drag on capacity, they added.

HIPA, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry agency responsible for attracting investments in areas ranging from batteries and cars to logistics, did not respond to Reuters queries about the EV industry.

‘CHINA’S MADE GOOD STEPS’

Hungary’s welcome to Asian battery makers might jar with concerns expressed by Brussels and Berlin about the perils of Europe becoming too dependent on China and other foreign powers, particularly in technologies central to the green transition.

Still, for now, the need to ramp up EV output leaves the European auto industry little choice but to source from Asian players, said Csaba Kilian of Hungary’s automotive association.

“I absolutely agree that European manufacturers should have their own sources … but it’s a competition, and China has made good steps,” he added. “There is a learning curve.”

Europe should have a EV battery manufacturing capacity of 1,200 gigawatt hours (GWh) by 2031 if current plans come to fruition, outstripping expected demand of 875 GWh, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI) estimates. But of that 1,200 GWh, 44% will be provided by Asian companies with factories in Europe, ahead of homegrown firms on 43% and U.S. pioneer Tesla (TSLA.O) with 13%, according to a Reuters calculation based on BMI data.

The prospects for developing a battery sector in Germany have been set back by record energy there as a result of the loss of Russian gas, according to autos consultants at Boston Consulting Group and Berylls Strategy Advisors.

Hungary offers a comparatively stable energy system bolstered by nuclear energy, as well as high subsidies and Europe’s lowest corporate tax rate of 9%.

The entire battery supply chain has come to the country, said Ilka von Dalwigk, policy manager at the European Battery Alliance, launched by the European Union in 2017 to kick-start a homegrown industry.

“Everything is located there. When we look at the forecast for 2025 and 2030, it looks like it will have one of the largest production capacities in Europe,” she added.

“It might very well be that Hungary is in fact the next big battery production cluster in Europe.”

Asked about concerns about reliance on Asia for technology, an EU official said the bloc – which must approve member state subsidies to investors – had a system in place to cooperate and exchange information on investments from non-EU countries that may affect security.

The European Commission is currently in talks with Hungary over the size of the subsidy the country will offer to CATL for building the Debrecen plant, the official added.

‘SENDING THE WRONG SIGNAL’

For some Western companies, setting up shop in Hungary is a tough decision.

German autos supplier Schaeffler said it was on the verge of setting up its primary electric motor plant in Hungary rather than Germany in August because of the appeal of Hungary’s incentives, but decided on Germany for fear of sending “the wrong signal” to Germans who fear a loss of jobs to overseas.

Other industry players expressed a range of concerns over potential pitfalls for the burgeoning Hungarian auto industry as factories ramped up, including the power grid issue.

Batteries, in particular, are highly energy-intensive parts of EVs to produce, requiring high amounts of power for the drying the materials and machine operation.

Hungary’s sources of energy in 2021 comprised 80% fossil fuels, 14.5% nuclear and 3.6% solar, according to a Reuters calculation of data from the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.

The mix spells trouble for carmakers who will soon need to showcase carbon-free credentials across their supply chains under new German and European legislation.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto met senior executives from BMW and auto suppliers including Schaeffler and Knorr-Bremse in Munich last month, ahead of the German carmaker announcing it was beefing up its investment in the country.

Topics discussed included plans to improve logistics infrastructure in Hungary and increasing the amount of renewables energy used for the power grid, according to one of the companies that attended.

When BMW first announced its plan to build its Debrecen plant, in 2018, the government committed to spending around 135 billion forints on improving local infrastructure, according to calculations by the German-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce.

On the battery side, CATL told Reuters it was considering developing solar power with local partners in Hungary.

Despite the risks, Alexander Timmer, a partner at Munich-based consultants Berylls Strategy Advisors who has worked on several autos and battery projects in Hungary, said the country presented an appealing package.

“The combination of cost advantages, state subsidies, and closeness to automakers’ plants makes Hungary increasingly attractive to battery producers, he added.

($1 = 397.54 forints; $1 = 0.9483 euros)

Reporting by Victoria Waldersee in Berlin, Gergely Szakacs in Budapest; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang, Zhang Yan; Editing by Pravin Char

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Explainer: NATO’s Articles 4 and 5: How the Ukraine conflict could trigger its defense obligations

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WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) – A deadly explosion occurred in NATO member Poland’s territory near its border with Ukraine on Tuesday, and the United States and its allies said they were investigating unconfirmed reports the blast had been caused by stray Russian missiles.

The explosion, which firefighters said killed two people, raised concerns of Russia’s war in Ukraine becoming a wider conflict. Polish authorities said it was caused by a Russian-made rocket, but Russia’s defense ministry denied involvement.

If it is determined that Moscow was to blame for the blast, it could trigger NATO’s principle of collective defense known as Article 5, in which an attack on one of the Western alliance’s members is deemed an attack on all, starting deliberations on a potential military response.

As a possible prelude to such a decision, however, Poland has first requested a NATO meeting on Wednesday under the treaty’s Article 4, European diplomats said. That is a call for consultations among the allies in the face of a security threat, allowing for more time to determine what steps to take.

The following is an explanation of Article 5 and what might occur if it is activated:

WHAT IS ARTICLE 5?

Article 5 is the cornerstone of the founding treaty of NATO, which was created in 1949 with the U.S. military as its powerful mainstay essentially to counter the Soviet Union and its Eastern bloc satellites during the Cold War.

The charter stipulates that “the Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.”

“They agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area,” it says.

AND WHAT IS ARTICLE 4?

Article 4 states that NATO members “will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.”

Within hours of the blast in Poland on Tuesday, two European diplomats said that Poland requested a NATO meeting under Article 4 for consultations.

[1/4] Zuzana 155 mm gun howitzer of NATO Enhanced Forward Presence battle group takes position before live fire exercise, during Iron Spear 2022 military drill in Adazi, Latvia November 15, 2022. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

HOW COULD THE UKRAINE WAR TRIGGER ARTICLE 5?

Since Ukraine is not part of NATO, Russia’s invasion in February did not trigger Article 5, though the United States and other member states rushed to provide military and diplomatic assistance to Kyiv.

However, experts have long warned of the potential for a spillover to neighboring countries on NATO’s eastern flank that could force the alliance to respond militarily.

Such action by Russia, either intentional or accidental, has raised the risk of widening the war by drawing other countries directly into the conflict.

IS INVOKING ARTICLE 5 AUTOMATIC?

No. Following an attack on a member state, the others come together to determine whether they agree to regard it as an Article 5 situation.

There is no time limit on how long such consultations could take, and experts say the language is flexible enough to allow each member to decide how far to go in responding to armed aggression against another.

HAS ARTICLE 5 BEEN INVOKED BEFORE?

Yes. Article 5 has been activated once before – on behalf of the United States, in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked-plane attacks on New York and Washington.

WHAT HAS BIDEN SAID ABOUT ARTICLE 5 COMMITMENTS?

While insisting that the United States has no interest in going to war against Russia, President Joe Biden has said from the start of Moscow’s invasion that Washington would meet its Article 5 commitments to defend NATO partners.

“America’s fully prepared with our NATO allies to defend every single inch of NATO territory. Every single inch,” Biden said at the White House in September.

He had declared earlier that there was “no doubt” that his administration would uphold Article 5.

Reporting by Matt Spetalnick;
Editing by Kieran Murray, Grant McCool and Bradley Perrett

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Druzhba pipeline leak reduces Russian oil flows to Germany

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WARSAW, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Germany said on Wednesday it was receiving less oil but still had adequate supplies, after Poland found a leak in the Druzhba pipeline that delivers crude from Russia to Europe that Warsaw said was probably caused by an accident rather than sabotage.

The discovery of the leak in the main route carrying oil to Germany, which operator PERN said it found on Tuesday evening, comes as Europe is on high alert over its energy security as it faces a severe crisis in the aftermath of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine which has cut supplies of gas.

“Security of supply in Germany is currently guaranteed,” an economy ministry spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The refineries in Schwedt and Leuna continue to receive crude oil via the Druzhba pipeline.”

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The Schwedt refinery, which supplies 90% of Berlin’s fuel, said in an emailed statement that deliveries were taking place at reduced capacity.

Germany said it was hoping for more information soon from Poland about the cause of the leak and how it can be repaired.

Europe has been on high alert over the security of its energy infrastructure since major leaks were found last month in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines running from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea. Both the West and Russia have blamed sabotage.

However, Poland’s top official in charge of energy infrastructure, Mateusz Berger, told Reuters by telephone that the leak in the Druzhba pipeline was most likely caused by “accidental damage”.

“We are living in turbulent times, different connotations are possible, but at this stage we have no grounds at all to believe that,” he said, when asked about the possibility of sabotage.

Berger said the leak was located 70 km (44 miles) west from Plock, where Poland’s biggest refinery owned by PKN Orlen is located. As a result, part of the shipping capacity towards Germany was not available, he said, adding that repairs would likely “not take long”.

PERN said supplies to Germany were reduced but continuing.

Reuters Graphics

GERMAN, POLAND REFINERY SUPPLIES

A model of a pipe line is seen at the main entrance to the Gomel Transneft oil pumping station, which moves crude through the Northern Druzhba pipeline westwards to Poland and Europe, near Mozyr, Belarus, in this file picture taken January 4, 2020. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

The Druzhba oil pipeline, whose name means “friendship” in Russian, is one of the world’s largest, supplying Russian oil to much of central Europe including Germany, Poland, Belarus, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Russia’s Transneft state-owned pipeline monopoly said that oil continues to be pumped towards Poland.

Poland’s PKN Orlen (PKN.WA) said that oil supplies to its Plock refinery were not interrupted while Czech pipeline operator MERO said it had not seen any change in flows to the Czech Republic.

“The main action (we are taking) is to pump out the liquid and locate the leak and stop it,” fire brigade spokesman Karol Kierzkowski told state broadcaster TVP Info.

“When the pressure decreases, the leak will stop and allow us to reach the leak,” he said, adding that it was too early to establish the cause and there was no danger to the public.

Firefighters in the mid-northern Kujawsko-Pomorskie region of Poland said they had pumped about 400 cubic metres of oil and water from the site of the leak which was in the middle of a corn field.

The second line of the pipeline, and other elements of PERN’s infrastructure, were working as normal, PERN said.

“At this point, all PERN services (technical, operational, in-house fire brigade and environmental protection) are taking action in accordance with the algorithms provided for this type of situation,” the operator said.

The total capacity of the western section of the pipeline that ships oil from central Poland to Germany is 27 million tonnes of crude oil per year.

Germany’s Schwedt refinery is particularly dependent on Druzhba.

The German government aims to eliminate imports of oil from Russia by the end of the year under European Union sanctions. But in the first seven months of the year, Russia was still its top supplier, accounting for just over 30% of oil imports.

As Germany looks for alternative supplies for Schwedt, Druzhba could be instrumental in supplying oil via the Polish port in Gdansk.

The German government has also been in talks to secure oil from Kazakhstan to supply Schwedt, but that oil would have to flow to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline too.

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Reporting by Reuters bureaus writing by Alan Charlish and Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Jan Harvey and Elaine Hardcastle

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Italy’s Eni working with Gazprom to resolve Russian gas flow halt

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MILAN, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Italy’s Eni (ENI.MI) said it not would receive any of the gas it had requested from Russia’s Gazprom (GAZP.MM) for delivery on Saturday, but the firms said they were working to fix this.

Russian gas supplies through the Tarvisio entry point will be at zero for Oct. 1, Eni, the biggest importer of Russian gas in Italy, said in a statement on its website.

Moscow and several European countries, including Germany, have been at loggerheads over the supply of natural gas from Russia since the country’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

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The European Union says that Moscow is using the flow of gas needed for energy in the region as an economic weapon, something that Russia has consistently denied, blaming instead the impact of Western sanctions for any disruptions in supply.

Gazprom said in a statement on Telegram that the problem was the result of regulatory changes in Austria.

Russia’s state-owned energy giant said that gas transit through Austria had been suspended after the country’s grid operator refused to confirm transport nominations.

Austria’s gas grid operator was not immediately available for comment on Saturday to respond to Gazprom’s comments.

A spokesperson for Eni, however, said that Austria continued to receive gas on its border with Slovakia.

Italy has secured additional gas imports this year from alternative suppliers to make up for a fall in flows from Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine.

Russian gas now accounts for around 10% of Italian imports, down from around 40%, a source close to the matter said, while the share for Algeria and the Nordics has increased.

Elsewhere, Gazprom cut natural gas supplies to Moldova by around 30%, Vadim Ceban, director of gas firm Moldovagaz, said.

On Friday, Moldova’s deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu said Gazprom had warned it about the reduction.

Spinu said on Saturday that technical problems caused the reduction and Moldova would ask Gazprom to increase supplies.

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Reporting by Federico Maccioni and Francesca Landini in Milan, additional reporting by Mark Trevelyan in London, Michael Shields in Zurich and Alexander Tanas in Chisinau, editing by Gareth Jones, Kirsten Donovan and Alexander Smith

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EU makes eleventh-hour push to agree on Russia oil sanctions

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European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, January 18, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo

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BRUSSELS, May 30 (Reuters) – Top European Union diplomats meet on Monday for a last-ditch attempt to agree on Russian oil import sanctions before their leaders meet later in the day, seeking to avoid a spectacle of disunity over the bloc’s response to the war in Ukraine.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell sounded a hopeful note ahead of the two-day summit in Brussels, where leaders of the 27 countries will have few concrete results if the impasse over an oil embargo holds up a wider package of sanctions on the table.

“I think that this afternoon, we will be able to offer to the heads of the member states an agreement,” Borrell told broadcaster France Info.

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Ambassadors failed on Sunday to agree on a proposal that would ban Russian oil delivered to EU countries by sea by the end of this year, but exempt oil delivered by a pipeline that supplies landlocked Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

The EU leaders will declare continued support for Ukraine to help it fend off Russia’s assault and they will discuss how to deal with the impact of the conflict, especially the spike in energy prices and an impending food supply crisis.

However, the talks will be overshadowed by their month-long struggle to agree on a sixth round of sanctions against Moscow.

“After Russia’s attack on Ukraine, we saw what can happen when Europe stands united,” German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Sunday. “With a view to the summit tomorrow, let’s hope it continues like this. But it is already starting to crumble and crumble again.” read more

Other elements of the latest package of sanctions include cutting Russia’s biggest bank, Sberbank (SBMX.MM), from the SWIFT messaging system, banning Russian broadcasters from the EU and adding more people to a list whose assets are frozen.

The most tangible outcome of the summit will be agreement on a package of EU loans worth 9 billion euro ($9.7 billion), with a small grants component to cover part of the interest, for Ukraine to keep its government going and pay wages for about two months.

A decision on how to raise the money will be made later.

According to a draft of the summit conclusions seen by Reuters, leaders will also back the creation of an international fund to rebuild Ukraine after the war, with details to be decided later, and will touch on the legally fraught question of confiscating frozen Russian assets for that purpose.

The leaders will pledge to accelerate work to help Ukraine move its grain out of the country to global buyers via rail and truck as the Russian navy is blocking the usual sea routes and to take steps to faster become independent of Russian energy.

The draft showed leaders would explore ways to curb rising energy prices, including the feasibility of introducing temporary price caps, to cut red tape on rolling out renewable sources of energy and invest in connecting national energy networks across borders to better help each other.

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Editing by Edmund Blair

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Germany to send seven self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine

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SLIAC/Slovakia, May 6 (Reuters) – Germany will deliver seven self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, on top of five such artillery systems the Dutch government already pledged, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Friday.

Germany reversed its long-held policy of not sending heavy weapons to war zones last week following pressure at home and abroad for it to help Ukraine fend off Russian attacks.

The heavy weapons will come out of the Bundeswehr inventories and be delivered as soon as they emerge from maintenance over the next weeks, Lambrecht and her chief of defence, general Eberhard Zorn, told reporters in the Slovak town of Sliac.

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The training of the first group of some 20 Ukrainian troops on the Panzerhaubitze 2000 is expected to kick off next week in the German town of Idar-Oberstein, Zorn said, adding that these troops had experience in operating Soviet-built howitzers.

Ukraine’s pleas for heavy weapons have intensified since Moscow has turned its heaviest firepower on the country’s east and south, after failing to take the capital Kyiv. read more

Berlin will also supply a first ammunition package for the howitzers built by German defence company KMW, Zorn said, with further ammunition purchases to be handled directly between Kyiv and the company.

The Panzerhaubitze 2000 is one of the most powerful artillery weapons in the Bundeswehr inventories and can hit targets at a distance of 40 kms (25 miles).

Last week, Berlin agreed for the first time to supply Kyiv with heavy weapons, in that case Gepard air-defence tanks, after critics accused Germany of dragging its heels on heavy weapons deliveries to Kyiv.

Most of the heavy weapons NATO countries have sent to Ukraine so far are Soviet-built arms still in the inventories of east European NATO member states, but the United States and some other allies have started to supply Kyiv with Western howitzers.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from fascists. Ukraine and the West say the fascist allegation is baseless and that the war is an unprovoked act of aggression.

Lambrecht will meet her Dutch counterpart Kajsa Ollongren later in the day in Sliac where both countries have deployed Patriot air defence since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise

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EU may offer Hungary, Slovakia exemptions from Russian oil embargo

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The European Union flags flutter ahead of the gas talks between the EU, Russia and Ukraine at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium September 19, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

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BRUSSELS, May 2 (Reuters) – The European Commission may spare Hungary and Slovakia from an embargo on buying Russian oil, now under preparation, wary of the two countries’ dependence on Russian crude, two EU officials said on Monday.

The Commission is expected to finalise on Tuesday work on the next, and sixth package of EU sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine, which would include a ban on buying Russian oil. Exports of oil are a major source of Moscow’s revenue.

Hungary, heavily dependent on Russian oil, has repeatedly said it would not sign up to sanctions involving energy. Slovakia is also among the EU countries most reliant on Russian fossil fuels.

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To keep the 27-nation bloc united, the Commission might offer Slovakia and Hungary “an exemption or a long transition period”, one of the officials said.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, thanked Slovakia for its support of Kyiv, in what seems a sign of understanding of Slovakia’s position.

“Ukraine will always remember what our Slovak friends did for us. Warm welcome for Ukrainians fleeing the war, humanitarian aid, arms supplies, support for granting Ukraine EU candidate status and allowing tariff-free exports to the EU,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter. “We are lucky to have Slovakia as a neighbor.”

The oil embargo is likely to be phased in anyway, most likely taking full effect from the start of next year, officials said.

Europe is the destination for nearly half of Russia’s crude and petroleum product exports – providing Moscow with a huge source of revenue that countries including Latvia and Poland say must be cut, to stop funding its military action in Ukraine.

EU countries have paid Russia nearly 20 billion euros since Feb. 24, when it invaded Ukraine in what Moscow calls a “special military operation”, according to research organisation the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

Overall, the EU is dependent on Russia for 26% of its oil imports.

Slovakia and Hungary, both on the southern route of the Druzhba pipeline bringing Russian oil to Europe, are especially dependent, receiving respectively 96% and 58% of their crude oil and oil products imports from Russia last year, according to the International Energy Agency.

Germany, the top buyer of Russian oil in the EU, has in recent days said it could manage an oil embargo, having initially resisted for fear of the economic cost.

At 555,000 barrels per day, Germany imported 35% of its crude oil from Russia in 2021, but has in recent weeks reduced that to 12%, the German economy ministry said in an update on energy security on Sunday.

“An oil embargo with a sufficient transitional period would now be manageable in Germany, subject to rising prices,” it said.

The EU sanctions package is to be presented to ambassadors of EU governments on Wednesday.

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Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Kate Abnett; Editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan and Leslie Adler

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World

Slovakia sends its air defence system to Ukraine

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  • Slovakia first to donate air defence system to Ukraine
  • Ukraine has appealed to West to boost its defence capabilities
  • Slovakia to replace donated S-300 system by Patriot from U.S.

PRAGUE, April 8 (Reuters) – Slovakia has donated its S-300 air defence system to Ukraine, Prime Minister Eduard Heger said on Friday, a day after the United States said it and 30 other countries were stepping up military aid to Kyiv.

Ukraine has repeatedly appealed to Western nations for air defence weaponry and heavy ground military equipment to help repel a Russian military onslaught now in its second month.

“I can confirm that Slovakia donated the S-300 air defence system to Ukraine based on its request to help in self defence due to armed aggression from the Russian Federation,” Heger said in an emailed statement.

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NATO member Slovakia has been operating one battery of the Soviet-designed S-300 air defence system which it inherited after the break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

Heger, who was visiting Kyiv on Friday, also said that Slovakia’s own defence was secured.

The Slovak donation is the first known case of a country sending an air defence system to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24.

In March, NATO allies Germany and Netherlands brought three batteries of the Patriot air defence system to Slovakia, which Bratislava said at the time would complement, rather than replace, the S-300, and that it would consider giving up the S-300 if it secured a replacement. read more

Heger said Slovakia would receive additional equipment from NATO allies to make up for the donation. Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad subsequently announced that Slovakia would receive the fourth Patriot system from the United States next week.

Russia has said that it considered western military shipments to Ukraine legitimate targets. Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation” to disarm and “denazify” Ukraine. Ukraine and allies say Russia invaded without provocation.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday the United States and 30 other countries were sending weapons to Ukraine and that the process would intensify. He spoke of “new systems” that have so far not been provided by NATO allies, but declined to go into details. read more

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba asked for planes, land-based anti-ship missiles, armoured vehicles and air defence systems at a special session at NATO headquarters on Thursday. read more

Slovakia had planned to modernise its S-300 several years ago but the effort had not been completed. The Slovak army website said the S-300 battery had range of 75 km and could strike targets up to 27 km above ground.

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Reporting by Robert Muller; Editing by Jason Neely and Raissa Kasolowsky

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Russia running out of precision munitions in Ukraine war- Pentagon official

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Service members of pro-Russian troops are seen atop of an armoured vehicle with the symbols “Z” painted on its side in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 24, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

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WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) – Russia is running out of precision guided munitions and it is more likely to rely on so-called dumb bombs and artillery, a senior Pentagon official said on Thursday.

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl speculated that he did not believe President Vladimir Putin wanted to have an all out conflict with NATO.

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Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Christian Schmollinger

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Exclusive: Facebook temporarily allows posts on Ukraine war calling for violence against invading Russians or Putin’s death

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A Facebook logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration taken January 6, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

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March 10 (Reuters) – Meta Platforms (FB.O) will allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion, according to internal emails seen by Reuters on Thursday, in a temporary change to its hate speech policy.

The social media company is also temporarily allowing some posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in countries including Russia, Ukraine and Poland, according to internal emails to its content moderators.

“As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’ We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.

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The calls for the leaders’ deaths will be allowed unless they contain other targets or have two indicators of credibility, such as the location or method, one email said, in a recent change to the company’s rules on violence and incitement.

The temporary policy changes on calls for violence to Russian soldiers apply to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine, according to one email.

In the email recently sent to moderators, Meta highlighted a change in its hate speech policy pertaining both to Russian soldiers and to Russians in the context of the invasion.

“We are issuing a spirit-of-the-policy allowance to allow T1 violent speech that would otherwise be removed under the Hate Speech policy when: (a) targeting Russian soldiers, EXCEPT prisoners of war, or (b) targeting Russians where it’s clear that the context is the Russian invasion of Ukraine (e.g., content mentions the invasion, self-defense, etc.),” it said in the email.

“We are doing this because we have observed that in this specific context, ‘Russian soldiers’ is being used as a proxy for the Russian military. The Hate Speech policy continues to prohibit attacks on Russians,” the email stated.

Last week, Russia said it was banning Facebook in the country in response to what it said were restrictions of access to Russian media on the platform. Moscow has cracked down on tech companies, including Twitter (TWTR.N), which said it is restricted in the country, during its invasion of Ukraine, which it calls a “special operation.”

Many major social media platforms have announced new content restrictions around the conflict, including blocking Russian state media RT and Sputnik in Europe, and have demonstrated carve-outs in some of their policies during the war.

Emails also showed that Meta would allow praise of the right-wing Azov battalion, which is normally prohibited, in a change first reported by The Intercept.

Meta spokesman Joe Osborne previously said the company was “for the time being, making a narrow exception for praise of the Azov Regiment strictly in the context of defending Ukraine, or in their role as part of the Ukraine National Guard.”

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Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in New Delhi and Elizabeth Culliford in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Stephen Coates & Shri Navaratnam

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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