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country. For the second year in a row, the joint efforts of the Government of Ukraine and international partners have allowed us to maintain financial stability in the face of the challenges of a full-scale war. Today's decision will allow us to maintain the achieved stability in the financial and economic areas and will stimulate the acceleration of Ukraine's recovery," said Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko. The EU budget support since the beginning of the full-scale war has reached €26bn .
Ukraine will receive €21B in military assistance from the EU this year.
According to FT, European institutions and EU member states have pledged to provide at least €21B in military aid to Ukraine in 2024, said High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. "All of us, the EU member states, and European institutions have so far provided Ukraine with €28B worth of military equipment. These are not forecasts and expectations, this is reality. According to the list provided by the member states, we are talking about €21B in military aid for Ukraine, which is included in the budgets for 2024," Borrell said. He noted that the figure is not final as some EU member states have not yet announced the amounts they have committed.
Orban says he is willing to compromise on $54bn Ukraine aid package. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Hungary had sent a compromise offer. The counter-proposal, which Orban considered to be the result of EU "blackmail," would require the aid package to be reviewed on a yearly basis.
Orban is pro-Hungarian, not pro-Russian. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba considers Hungarian President Viktor Orban and Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto to be pro-Hungarian, not pro-Russian, Hungarian news outlet Telex reported on Jan. 30.
EU creates fresh plan for $22bn in military support for Ukraine. The proposed plan is designed with Hungary's likely obstruction in mind, avoiding the regular disbursement of aid that can be blocked by a single member state.
Here are the new details of the €20B EU military aid fund for Ukraine. This week, EU diplomats will begin consideration of a new plan to hasten the supply of military aid to Ukraine. The plan envisages the creation of a dedicated fund, to which €6.5B will be directed from the European Peace Fund, and into which €5B will be transferred annually in 2024 through 2027. This new mechanism will allow the use of the Peace Fund's funds to compensate for the costs incurred by EU countries for joint purchases of weapons for Ukraine, including drones, air defence missiles, and ammunition. A portion of these funds will be directed to training the Ukrainian military in EU countries. After the approval of the new plan, EU countries can seek compensation from the more than €20B in EU funds for tens of billions of euros in military aid they will provide to Ukraine over the next four years. It is noted that EU countries will be eligible to receive up to €7.5B in compensation for military aid as early as this year. EU leaders may consider a proposal for a new plan at the summit on February 1.
Slovakia will support the €50B allocation and allow private companies to supply arms to Ukraine. The Prime Ministers of Ukraine and Slovakia, Denys Shmyhal and Robert Fico, reached an agreement on several issues, including the EU's allocation of €50B to Ukraine on January 24. Moreover, the parties agreed on the following:
● The Slovak government will not block Ukraine's purchase of weapons and equipment from Slovak businesses.
● The countries will cooperate in the supply of Slovak equipment for the construction of defensive lines.
● Slovakia will fully support Ukraine in its European integration aspirations.
60 UKRAINE Country Report February 2024 www.intellinews.com