EU pledges more weapons
“We know that Ukraine is fighting for us”
The EU summit has ended with a surprisingly swift agreement on additional billions in aid for Ukraine. However, the Union is still late in delivering urgently needed ammunition - Commission President Ursula von der Leyen vows to do better.
Europe has shown its leadership and unity today, emphasized von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel after the special summit. "We know that Ukraine is fighting for us. The European Council has today reaffirmed its support for Ukraine," said von der Leyen. Shortly before the two-year anniversary of the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the additional 50 billion euros for Ukraine would send "a strong message to Putin".
Selensky rebukes EU for tardiness
The EU's military aid for the Ukrainian defenders is also to be strengthened. This is sorely needed: the original plan was to deliver one million artillery shells to Kiev by March 2024, but this promise is unlikely to be kept. By the beginning of the year, only 330,000 pieces of ammunition had been delivered from the EU to Ukraine, as Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, announced. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi therefore expressed his gratitude for the additional aid, but criticized the backlog in arms deliveries.
"Must accelerate production"
"More is needed and more will come", von der Leyen hastened to emphasize on Thursday. She announced a new EU Commission strategy to strengthen the European defense industry. "Europe must move from emergency aid to defense readiness," said the Commission President. "We need to speed up our production in order to be able to deliver more quickly," added Michel.
The additional aid payments to Ukraine are being made because Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban gave up his veto before the summit of the 27 heads of state and government. It is unclear exactly why; there had been talks with top EU politicians in the run-up to the summit, but no details leaked out.
Aid payments will be reviewed in two years
One reason for Orban's relenting could be that the aid payments can be reviewed in two years' time. Orban had previously called for an annual review. This had been rejected by some heads of state with references to poor predictability. The ongoing proceedings against Hungary for breaches of the rule of law under Article 7 of the EU Treaty were not addressed by the 27, according to Council circles. The release of currently frozen EU funds for Budapest was also not part of the deal.
The Commission President emphasized that the EU's proposed revision of the multi-annual EU budget with funds to combat illegal migration, to support the Western Balkans partners and to deal with natural disasters and humanitarian crises was also approved today.
Ten billion for measures against illegal migration
Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) welcomed the fact that ten billion euros would be available for measures against illegal migration, which was a success. He also expressed his satisfaction that the increase in the EU financial framework until 2027 was lower than the original EU Commission proposal as a result of redeployment.
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