The European Commission decided today to reinforce its support for Ukraine by proposing a comprehensive financial assistance package, consisting of a Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism of up to €45 billion, and an exceptional Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) loan of up to €35 billion.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the package at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, saying that “relentless Russian attacks mean Ukraine needs continued EU support.”
“This is a huge step forward. We are now confident that we can deliver this loan to Ukraine very quickly. A loan that is backed by the windfall profits from immobilised Russian assets,”von der Leyen said. “So, crucially, this loan will flow straight into your national budget. This will improve Ukraine’s macro financial stability and it will provide you with significant and much needed fiscal space. You will decide how best to use the funds, giving you maximum flexibility to meet your needs. And this will free more of your national resources to strengthen them, for example, your military capabilities, and to defend yourself against Russian aggression.”
Von der Leyen also said that thanks to the EU’s support for Ukraine’s defence sector, it has become the number one public investor in the country’s defence sector.
“This summer we transferred the first tranche of €1.4 billion in the form of orders for weapons and equipment via the European Peace Facility,” she said. “Ukraine’s defence industry is among the most cutting edge ones. So we are very much looking forward to deepening our ties in this area, even before you join the European Union.”
Von der Leyen added that Ukraine’s accession to the EU would be one of her priorities in her next term as the President of the European Commission.
“Our objective now is /…/ to open negotiations on the Fundamentals cluster as soon as possible. This is an important one, and then we can move forward with the other clusters too.”
Yesterday, von der Leyen announced an additional amount of close to €160 million that the European Commission has made available to “repair, connect, and stabilise” Ukraine this winter.
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