European Union leaders reached an agreement this Thursday (1st) to deliver 50 billion euros (R$267 billion) in aid to Ukraine over the next four years, after Hungary lifted its veto on the package, according to confirmed the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
“We have an agreement. Unity. The 27 leaders have reached an agreement on an additional support package of 50 billion euros for Ukraine within the EU budget,” Michel announced on his account on the social network X, shortly after the start of the summit of heads of state and government of the European bloc in Brussels.
The President of the European Council celebrated that “this guarantees firm, long-term and predictable financing for Ukraine” and that with the measure “the EU is assuming leadership and responsibility in supporting Ukraine”.
Michel's message was posted a few minutes after the start of the summit, which was preceded by a meeting between the President of the European Council, Frenchman Emmanuel Macron, German Olaf Scholz and Italian Giorgia Meloni with Hungarian Viktor Orbán to find a solution for blocking.
Later, the president of the government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and the prime ministers of Belgium, Alexander De Croo, of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, and of Poland, Donald Tusk, joined the meeting.
The Hungarian nationalist prime minister asked for a mechanism to evaluate aid to Ukraine every year, despite it being a plan until 2027, and for there to be the possibility of a veto in each analysis, something that the other EU members categorically rejected.
The other 26 member states maintained the position established in December last year of including aid in the multiannual financial framework to give it stability and, if a unanimous agreement was not reached, they had a plan B to transfer funds to Kiev even without approval from Budapest.
Finally, during the meeting before the summit, it was decided with Orbán that the leaders would discuss assistance to Ukraine every year at a summit and that, after two years, they could ask the European Commission to review it.
However, to carry out this review or make any changes to aid, the approval of all Member States will be required, which means that Orbán will not be able to block the assistance package for Kiev again, as explained by several European sources.
Furthermore, the other leaders agreed to include a paragraph in the conclusions document that reminds that measures to block funds due to attacks on the rule of law (a mechanism that currently keeps Budapest's 6.3 billion blocked) must be “proportional to the repercussions who has the violation.”
“The European Council fulfilled our priorities: supporting Ukraine, combating illegal migration, supporting European competitiveness. A good day for Europe”, celebrated the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also on the X social network.
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