2024-01-22 06:12:00
European Union officials this week will begin considering a new plan to unlock military aid to Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a draft plan presented on January 19. First about the developed plan reported Bloomberg agency.
The initiative assumes that a special fund will be created, into which 6.5 billion euros will be allocated from the European Peace Fund, and five billion euros per year will also be transferred annually in 2024-2027.
They plan to use the money from the new fund to compensate for the costs of EU countries on joint purchases of weapons for Ukraine – drones, air defense missiles, and ammunition. Also, part of the funds is going to be used to finance the training of the Ukrainian military in the European Union.
If the EU approves the new plan, member countries will be able to return more than 20 billion euros from EU funds to their budgets in exchange for “tens of billions of euros” of military aid they will provide to Ukraine over the next four years, writes WSJ.
The draft plan suggests that EU countries will be able to receive compensation for military assistance in the amount of 7.5 billion euros as early as 2024.
“Given Ukraine’s dependence on external support, the choices made by EU countries and partners in the coming period will either allow Ukraine to move forward decisively or seriously undermine its ability to resist,” the draft plan, cited by the WSJ, says.
EU leaders are expected to consider the proposal at a summit scheduled for February 1.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, EU countries have approved seven packages of military assistance to Kyiv totaling 3.5 billion euros, and also allocated two billion euros for the supply of ammunition. For more than six months, the Russian-friendly Hungarian government has been blocking any payments from the European Peace Fund, demanding concessions from Ukraine that are not related to the war.
Hungary, which is a member of the European Union and NATO, refused to provide military assistance to Ukraine after the start of a full-scale war. In 2022, the Hungarian authorities blocked an 18 billion euro aid program to Ukraine. In 2023, Hungary blocked a joint EU statement on an international arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In addition, in December, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed a decision to allocate economic assistance to Ukraine in the amount of 50 billion euros.
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