Sweden announces €120 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine
Sweden is allocating SEK 1.4 billion (approximately EUR 120 million) to Ukraine, which will be used to support the country’s population in the run-up to winter. The funds will be used to support electricity and heating systems and to build shelters in schools.
According to Censor.NET, with reference to SVT, the aid package was presented on Monday by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Foreign Minister Johan Forssell at a press conference.
According to Kristersson, this is the largest support in Sweden's bilateral assistance to Ukraine.
Most of the money, SEK 900 million, will go to the World Bank's Ukraine Recovery Fund. The fund supports Ukraine's infrastructure in the areas of energy, housing, healthcare, and transportation.
The money taken from the Swedish aid budget will be used, among other things, to purchase heating equipment and increase the capacity of the Ukrainian power grid.
Other measures will help Ukrainians get through the winter, such as building shelters. According to Forssell, this was done at the request of Ukraine.
He accused Russia of conducting a kind of "energy terrorism" against Ukraine.
"Russia is deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure to make the already severe challenge for civilians even harder. With this package, we want to help Ukraine both build new things and rebuild what has been destroyed," Forssell emphasized.
At the same time, Ulf Kristersson warned of the consequences if the EU countries fail to agree on an extended long-term budget at the summit in Brussels this week.
"I still hope that it will be possible to do so. But I want to emphasize that this is not a normal European disagreement that we sometimes have because then you can just have another meeting later, but it will have huge consequences if we don't agree," he added.
