EU plans to create €40 billion military aid fund for Ukraine without Hungary
Photo: EU military aid to Ukraine will amount to 40 billion euros (Getty Images)
The EU has proposed to create a fund to send military aid to Ukraine in the amount of 20-40 billion euros. The fund will operate on a voluntary basis to avoid a veto from Hungary, reports Euractiv.
Last month, the EU diplomatic service proposed to create a scheme at the EU level to send 1.5 million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine. The text did not contain any figures for the amount.
Given Hungary's continued refusal to participate in any scheme that would support Ukraine both militarily and non-militarily through EU channels, the proposal was reworked to include “participating member states.”
The latest version of the proposal states that countries are encouraged to provide military support to Ukraine in 2025 for a provisional amount of at least €20 billion and potentially up to €40 billion depending on Ukraine's needs.
As a first step, the leaders should agree to allocate 5 billion euros for the purchase of 2 million pieces of large-caliber artillery ammunition in 2025.
The new scheme
Each country will participate according to its economic weight, either in cash or in kind. The EU itself will count €1.9 billion from its windfall profits from frozen Russian assets as its contribution, although it has already been allocated and partially disbursed.
Priority should be given to large-caliber artillery munitions, air defense systems, missiles, drones, fighter jets, and any support for brigade revitalization, which typically includes equipment maintenance and non-lethal support.
The list includes “contributions of member states to security guarantees for Ukraine”, without further details. Any other military support that Kyiv considers a priority will be taken into account as part of this scheme, the text says.
The text was transmitted to EU countries on March 13, ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers on Monday. The leaders will also meet at a summit next week, in particular, to discuss aid to Ukraine and defense assistance.
The deadline for countries to express interest in joining the scheme is April 30.
European rearmament
Next week, the EU's executive body plans to present details of its plan to free up 800 billion euros for joint purchases of European defense equipment and stimulate production in this area.
A white paper on the future of European defense has already outlined steps toward creating a single market for the sector and highlighted critical capability gaps as the traditional longtime ally the United States presses Europe to take more steps to secure its defense.
Despite the US desire to resolve the war as quickly as possible, Europeans have regularly promised to continue supplying Ukraine with weapons so that it can regain territory occupied by Russia, have a strong position at the negotiating table, and maintain its ability to defend itself in the long term.
Assistance to Ukraine
According to the Kiel Institute, Western countries provide Ukraine with a small but steady aid of 80 billion euros per year.
In total, over the past three years, Ukraine has received about €267 billion in aid. Of this total, about €130 billion (49%) was allocated for military aid, €118 billion (44%) for financial support, and €19 billion (7%) for humanitarian aid.
Europe slightly outpaced the United States in terms of aid to Ukraine, allocating €70 billion in financial and humanitarian aid and €62 billion in military aid. The United States allocated €64 billion in military aid and €50 billion in financial and humanitarian aid.
