The countries of the European Union reached an agreement this Saturday to unblock the package of 18,000 million euros of financial aid to Ukraine for next year, thus circumventing the veto that Hungary has maintained.
"Ukraine can count on the EU. We will continue to support Ukraine, also financially, for as long as necessary. (...) Ukraine can count on financial support from the EU throughout 2023," the Council of Council confirmed in a statement. the EU, the institution that represents the countries.
The EU countries have thus found a solution that allows them to circumvent the veto of Hungary, which has kept aid to Ukraine blocked as a blackmail measure so that its European partners would give the green light to its recovery plan and not freeze its funds. for questioning their respect for the rule of law.
The approved solution happens because Brussels can capture the 18,000 million euros with debt issues guaranteed only by the EU countries and not with the community budget.
In this way, the Twenty-six countries of the EU manage to circumvent the unanimity that would be required if the guarantees came from the EU budget.
This second option, however, is not ruled out, European sources explained to EFE, given the possibility that Hungary ends up backing down and agreeing to participate in financial aid to Ukraine.
Brussels will be able to start issuing debt when the European Parliament approves the financial aid package, a requirement for which no setbacks are expected.
Meanwhile, the European Commission continued to insist yesterday on the need to freeze 7,500 million euros of regional funds to Hungary for its problems with the rule of law.
This will force a new council of finance ministers to be held before the end of the year to address the issue, since if there is no decision before December 19, the process will decay.
The partners will also have to decide on the Hungarian recovery plan, approved by the Commission also last Wednesday after having agreed with Budapest the introduction of 27 reforms related to strengthening the rule of law as a condition for the start of aid payments.
If the Member States do not formally approve it before the end of the year, Hungary would lose 70% of the funds it has allocated, that is, some 4,600 million of the 5,800 million in direct aid.
