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EU leaders approved a package of €50 billion to Ukraine, preventing a veto from Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, the only Putin friend of such rank in the EU leadership.
After closed-door discussions with European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of France, Germany and Italy, Orbán agreed to unblock the four-year-long financial assistance package.
Most of the credit goes to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron, whose efforts included telephone conversations, personal meetings and even some “wining and dining”, Politico reports.
The €50 billion will help Ukraine to stabilise its economy until 2027, but has nothing to do with weaponry supplies. The latter is still blocked by Orbán.
The price of compromise with Orbán includes:
- an annual report of the European Commission on the aid package implementation;
- debates on the issue between EU state leaders;
- the possibility for the European Council to request a new budget proposal review from the European Commission.
On those terms, Ukraine will get €12.5 billion every year till 2027, and Orbán still gets a chance to block the assistance annually.
The EU stressed that Ukraine will receive the financial aid on a number of conditions: upholding and respecting a multi-party parliamentary system and the rule of law, plus respect for human rights, including the rights of minorities.
Ukraine also has to protect the EU’s financial interests, preventing and correcting fraud, corruption, conflicts of interests and irregularities.