The EU has announced the disbursement of another aid loan for Ukraine. As Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Thursday, this is about the last 1.5 billion euros from a total of 18 billion euros in support program for 2023. This was agreed by the EU member states in December last year.
It is unclear what will happen next year with financial aid for the country attacked by Russia. A new aid program worth 50 billion euros for the next four years was actually supposed to be agreed at the EU summit at the end of last week. However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban prevented this with a veto. He had previously criticized the plans several times and in this context also pointed out that, in his view, the EU had wrongly frozen funds earmarked for his country from the Community budget.
If no solution is found with Hungary in the coming weeks, the other EU states want to act in a circle of 26. A special EU summit on how to proceed has been announced for February 1st. Von der Leyen warned on Thursday that an agreement must be found to continue to provide Ukraine with the support it needs.
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, for example, power lines, water systems as well as roads and bridges.
Despite the ongoing war, the previous loans are linked to 20 reform commitments and reporting obligations. For example, they are concerned with the rule of law and the fight against corruption. Ukraine has up to 35 years to repay the money, which is scheduled to begin in 2033. The interest costs are borne by the EU member states.
