European Commission is preparing alternative solutions in case of blocking creation of EUR 50 billion Ukraine Fund – von der Leyen
This was stated by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Censor.NET reports with reference to Ukrinform.
"Indeed, an agreement among all 27 countries is the first priority. But, of course, we must be prepared for other options. We are preparing operational solutions for this right now. What is important is that just before Christmas, we disbursed the last tranche of our €18 billion package (of macro-financial assistance - ed.) for Ukraine in 2023. This will help Ukraine finance its needs at the beginning of this year. This gives us a little bit of time, but of course we have to work as hard and as fast as we can to get this done," von der Leyen emphasized.
As a reminder, the European Council, which took place in Brussels on December 14-15, 2023, failed to agree on amendments to the EU budget for 2024-2027, which provided for the creation of a €50 billion Ukraine Fund. The decision on this document was blocked by Hungary. A special extraordinary meeting of the European Council will be held in Brussels on February 1, 2024, to resolve the budget issue and extend financial assistance to Ukraine.
