Netherlands to provide additional €2.5 billion to Ukraine
In 2024, the Netherlands will provide Ukraine with an additional €2.5 billion aid package.
Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot said this during a speech at the plenary session of the OSCE Ministerial Council on Thursday in Skopje, Censor.NET reports citing Ukrinform.
"The Netherlands will continue to support Ukraine with all possible means for as long as it takes. And the Netherlands is pleased to announce that we will help Ukraine with an additional support package of €2.5 billion for 2024," she said.
The Dutch Foreign Minister stressed that Russia, by waging war against Ukraine, has trampled on the UN Charter and the basic principles of the OSCE set out in the Helsinki Final Act.
"Only Russia can stop this war. The Ukrainian people are courageously defending their territory, their sovereignty and their freedom," said Bruins Slot.
In her speech, she also strongly condemned Russia's policy of illegally transferring and deporting Ukrainian children, adding that this is happening with the complicity of Belarus. "This policy is aimed at destroying Ukrainian identity and culture. Russia must immediately return Ukrainian children to their homeland. I will call on all OSCE participating states to support efforts to reunite these children with their families," the minister said.
She also called on the Russian Federation to immediately release the OSCE SMM staff who have been detained for more than 20 months.
