EU kicks off talks on 20 billion euro military fund for Ukraine
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The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Thursday (July 20) put forward a proposal of a 20 billion euro (USD 22.4 billion) fund for weapons, ammunitions and other military help for Ukraine. However, the plan would need more scrutiny from EU governments before it can go ahead. High Representative Josep Borrell presented the plan in EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels. This was part of an effort to put European support for Ukraine on a longer-term footing. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is in its second year now.
The proposal comes amid an international drive to give Ukraine long-term security assurances, as announced by members of the G7 on the sidelines of last week's NATO summit in Vilnius.
"We proposed the creation of a dedicated section under the European Peace Facility to provide up to 5 billion euros a year for the next four years for the defence needs of Ukraine," Borrell told a news conference after the meeting.
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"This is the evaluation of the needs and the cost of our long-term security commitments to Ukraine," he said.
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The European Peace Facility (EPF) was created in 2021. It is meant to finance actions that seek to prevent conflicts, build peace and strengthen international security. The EPF was initially worth 5.7 billion euros. It has since grown to 12 billion.
The facility is used to reimburse EU countries for at least part of the cost of weapons, ammunition and other military aid that they give to nations outside the bloc.
A welcome idea
The idea of longer-term military aid for Ukraine was welcomed by several ministers at the meeting but they said that the details about the funding would be subject to further discussions. Their governments would have to pay for any boost to the fund.
"A fund for the defence of Ukraine is going to be developed," Portuguese Foreign Minister Joao Gomes Cravinho told reporters. "As for the amounts, we are not there yet."
Borrell said that detailed talks among EU foreign and defence ministers on this fund will take place during a ministerial meeting which will take place at the end of August in Spain.
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It was a landmark decision last year when the European Union decided to finance arms supply to Ukraine. Before that, the EU focused only on economic and political co-operation. It avoided involvement in armed conflicts.
But the debate on the new proposal are unlikely to be straightforward.
Hungary is holding up the disbursement of 500 million euros in current EPF funds for Ukraine aid, demanding that Hungarian bank OTP first be removed from a Ukrainian blacklist.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Budapest would take the same stance with the new proposal.
(With inputs from agencies)
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