The European Union is studying the creation of a fund of up to €20 billion over four years to continue supporting the Ukrainian army in its fight against the Russian invasion, the EU’s head of diplomacy, Josep Borrell, announced on Thursday.
Brussels is proposing to create a specific budget line under the European Peace Facility (EPF), used to finance arms supplies to Ukraine and military missions abroad, he said after a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels.
This fund would be endowed with up to €5 billion a year, starting next year, in order to transform existing support into a long-term commitment to Ukraine’s security and resilience and to guarantee Kyiv more sustainable and predictable funding, Borrell said.
This amount corresponds to the assessment of the needs and the cost of the EU's long-term security commitment to Ukraine, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy explained.
The proposal was discussed on Thursday but will be the subject of a more in-depth debate at the end of August at an informal meeting of EU heads of diplomacy in Toledo, Spain, organised under the aegis of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Some Member States, notably Hungary, could oppose the initiative, and the final green light from the 27 is not expected to come until one of the summits of EU heads of state and government scheduled for October and December this year.
A diplomatic source said talks on this “defence fund” for Ukraine were still in their “early stages.”
The EU needs very substantial financial resources to continue to support Ukraine in the military field, so that it can exercise its right to self-defence, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Thursday.
Everything has to go together; it is not enough to throw around figures, they have to fit together in a logical and meaningful way, she explained, adding that discussions on this issue would continue in the next few months.
