There has been a long debate in the EU about new financial aid for Ukraine. The first money is now flowing – but initially only as bridge financing. Chancellor Scholz swears by solidarity.
Ukraine has received money from the EU for the first time from a new multi-year aid program. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced at a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal that 4.5 billion euros had been paid out. The money is intended to help Ukraine maintain the functioning of the state in a very difficult situation, she explained.
According to the head of the commission, the money was made available as bridge financing. Additional funding will be available once compliance with requirements has been verified. Schmyhal presented von der Leyen with a plan on Wednesday that is intended to show how the country, which has been severely weakened economically by Russia’s war of aggression, should recover.
50 billion euros planned as aid
The Ukrainian Prime Minister also thanked for the support already provided. “In the more than two years since the Russian invasion, we have received a total of 88 billion euros in aid from the EU and its member states,” he said. Ukraine will always remember and appreciate this.
The new EU aid program provides financial aid worth 50 billion euros over a period of four years. 33 billion euros of this are to be paid out as loans, the rest in the form of grants that do not have to be repaid.
The new financial aid was approved by the heads of state and government of the EU states at a special summit in Brussels at the beginning of February after a week-long blockade of Hungary. In return for the country’s consent, the other EU states agreed to speak once a year at the top level about the implementation of the aid program for Ukraine.
There should also be the possibility of a revision in two years. According to the compromise, it will only be used if all 27 EU states see the need for it. There will be no annual vote.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had previously questioned the usefulness of the plans. He also repeatedly criticized the fact that, in his view, the EU had wrongly frozen funds earmarked for his country from the Community budget.
The EU wants to use the financial aid to enable the Ukrainian state to continue paying wages and pensions. In addition, the operation of hospitals, schools and emergency accommodation for resettled people should be guaranteed. In addition, the money can also be used to restore infrastructure destroyed by the Russian war of aggression. These include power lines, water systems as well as roads and bridges. Last year, the EU paid out financial aid worth 18 billion euros.
Scholz calls for cohesion before the EU summit
Before the EU summit in Brussels, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) invoked the solidarity of the international community in Ukraine policy. “We stand together,” he said in a government statement in the Bundestag.
He emphasized that last week he once again committed himself to three principles with French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. “We will support Ukraine for as long as it is necessary,” said Scholz. Together we will also ensure that NATO does not become a party to the war. “And we will not accept any dictated peace at the expense of Ukraine.”
Source: Stern
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