The European Union on Thursday paid the final tranche of a multibillion-euro support package to Ukraine to help keep its war-ravaged economy afloat this year, leaving the country without a financial lifeline from Europe as of next month.
Quick Read
- EU’s Final Payment to Ukraine: The European Union completed its last monthly payment of 1.5 billion euros to Ukraine, part of a support package for 2023 to sustain Ukraine’s economy amidst the war.
- Support for Ukraine’s Stability and Rebuilding: The EU funds have been vital for macroeconomic stability, rebuilding infrastructure, and maintaining essential services like hospitals and schools in Ukraine.
- Proposed Long-Term Support Blocked by Hungary: The EU proposed a long-term package of 50 billion euros for Ukraine, but Hungary, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, vetoed the plan.
- Impact of Hungary’s Decision: Hungary’s stance, influenced by its relationship with Russia, has been criticized for prioritizing Moscow’s interests and poses a challenge to further EU financial support for Ukraine.
- Orbán’s Push for Peace Talks: Orbán advocates for an immediate end to the conflict and negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv, differing from the majority EU stance.
- Future EU Summit to Address Deadlock: EU leaders are scheduled to meet on Feb. 1 to discuss the deadlock caused by Hungary’s veto.
- Need for Increased EU Budget: The proposed 50-billion-euro package for Ukraine is part of a revised EU budget to address war fallout, energy crises, inflation, and COVID-19 impacts.
- Uncertainty About Future Aid: With the 2023 support ending, there’s uncertainty about Ukraine’s financial aid from January, as the European Commission has not specified future support plans.
- EU’s Total Support to Ukraine: Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the EU has provided nearly 85 billion euros in various forms of support to Ukraine.
The Associated Press has the story:
EU pays final tranche of Ukraine budget support for 2023. Future support is up in the air
Newslooks- BRUSSELS (AP)
The European Union on Thursday paid the final tranche of a multibillion-euro support package to Ukraine to help keep its war-ravaged economy afloat this year, leaving the country without a financial lifeline from Europe as of next month.
The EU has sent 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) each month in 2023 to ensure macroeconomic stability and rebuild critical infrastructure destroyed in the war. It’s also helping to pay wages and pensions, keep hospitals and schools running, and provide shelter for people forced from their homes.
To ensure that Ukraine has predictable, longer-term income, the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, proposed to provide the country with 50 billion euros ($55 billion.) At a summit last week, 26 of the 27 nation bloc’s leaders endorsed the plan, but Hungary imposed a veto.
The decision came as a major blow to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, days after he had failed to persuade U.S. lawmakers to approve an additional $61 billion for his war effort.
Hungary’s nationalist leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, is widely considered to be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in the EU. Critics accuse him of putting Moscow’s interests ahead of those of his EU and NATO allies.
Orban has called for an immediate end to the fighting, which has ground on for almost two years, and pushed for peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
Last week, he accused his EU partners of seeking to prolong the war and said that sending more money to Ukraine was a “violation of (Hungary’s) interests.”
Orban is set to meet again with fellow EU leaders on Feb. 1 to try to break the deadlock.
The 50-billion-euro package is included in a revision of the bloc’s long-term budget. More money is needed to pay for EU policy priorities given the fallout from the war, including high energy prices and inflation, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Announcing that 2023 macro-financial support to Ukraine had come to an end, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered no hint of what help Kyiv might receive come January. Commission officials haven’t been able to answer questions about what financial support might be available.
“We need to continue supporting Ukraine to ensure its economic stability, to reform and to rebuild. This is why we are working hard to find an agreement on our proposal of 50 billion euros for Ukraine between next year until 2027,” she said in a statement.
The EU has provided almost 85 billion euros ($93 billion), including in financial, humanitarian, emergency budget and military support, to Ukraine since Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
