One of the models that EU member states are considering is providing financial assistance by borrowing funds.
According to the newspaper’s sources, EU member states could undertake financial guarantee obligations, which would give the European Commission (EC) the ability to borrow the necessary amount on the capital markets to provide aid to Ukraine.
The FT noted that a similar mechanism was used in 2020 when the EC, during the Covid-19 pandemic, provided EU member states with €100 billion in short-term work support programmes.
The newspaper noted that the advantage of this solution is that guarantees are not required from all 27 EU member states, but rather from members of the bloc with high credit ratings.
Some countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, will need parliamentary approval to provide state guarantees. Officials hope to complete the process in time to provide aid to Ukraine by March.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen already warned in mid-December that she would use the time until the next summit of member states’ leaders, scheduled for early February, to prepare a plan B for financial assistance to Ukraine.
“You can imagine that redistributing money and changing priorities required difficult choices. We have made those choices. However, we could not reach a consensus because Hungary was not ready to show support. Now we will have a new meeting at the beginning of next year. We, the European Commission, will use this time to ensure that, whatever happens at the next European Council, we still have a workable solution.”
CONTEXT:
Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked large-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, the Kremlin’s propaganda brazenly promised to capture Kyiv in three days, but the selfless and strong resistance of the Ukrainians prevented the Kremlin from realizing its plans.
After the setbacks, the Kremlin withdrew the army from the Kyiv region, but continued the offensive in other regions. In the fall of 2022, the Ukrainian army managed to liberate Kharkiv region and part of Kherson region in successful operations, raising hopes for the possibility of defeating the enemy.
However, the Ukrainian counteroffensive launched in the summer of 2023 was not so successful, which the Ukrainian army explains both by the insufficient supply of weapons from the Western allies and by the deep defense line and extensive minefields created by the Russian army. Now there are reports that a war of positions has begun at the front with exhausting battles and preparations must be made for long-term support for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, aid from both the US and the European Union “hung in the air”.
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2023-12-27 17:07:57
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