European Commission promises operational solutions to unlock EUR 50 billion for Ukraine

Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, once again called for the early approval of the Ukraine Facility four-year plan of assistance to Ukraine with the amount of EUR 50 billion as part of the medium-term revision of the EU budget.

She said this at a press conference on the occasion of the arrival of the board of European commissioners in Belgium, which in the first half of the year presides over the EU Council.

Von der Leyen recalled the latest massive russian missile attacks on Ukraine and the decision of EU leaders to approve the start of negotiations with it, after which "we must urgently move forward on stabilising our financial aid to Ukraine."

"The Commission will come to the European Council with operational decisions to make sure that we can agree on Ukraine Facility. Then Belgium will face the key task of transforming the political agreement on the program as quickly as possible through the EU Council and the European Parliament," she added.

The President of the European Commission stressed that Ukraine Facility is the centerpiece of the revision of the multi-year EU budget, and this revision should be completed under the Belgian presidency so that the EU can continue to implement other political priorities.

On the clarifying issue, von der Leyen refused to reveal the essence of operational decisions, but hinted that they were necessary in the absence of consensus on the Ukraine Facility - as it is known, Hungary blocked it at the last EU summit.

"It is important to know that we just allocated the last tranche of our 2023 support package to Ukraine worth EUR 18 billion before Christmas. This will help Ukraine finance its needs for the beginning of this year. This gives us a little leeway, but, of course, we must work as hard and fast as possible to fulfill what we promised," the president said.