'No risk': EU commissioner says humanitarian aid to Ukraine secure
Hadja Lahbib, EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management (photo: Dmytro Semeniuk, RBC-Ukraine)
At present, there is no risk of a reduction in humanitarian aid to Ukraine from the European Union, European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
"No, there is no risk of reducing assistance to Ukraine. We just decided on an important amount, and we are ready to step up if it is needed. Also, you may know that we are currently negotiating the MFF, which is a multi-annual financial framework for the next seven years, starting in 2028. We propose a very important and ambitious amount of budget for humanitarian aid," Lahbib said.
According to her, the goal is to work within the framework of the so-called Global Europe with all other external actors.
"It means to work more closely with cooperation and development to deliver humanitarian aid in a more efficient and sustainable manner," the European Commissioner explained.
EU aid to Ukraine
The European Union allocated 4.7 billion euros for humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
The assistance is focused on key humanitarian needs of Ukrainians — from food provision to supporting energy resilience during winter.
The European Commission is also developing a special Energy Action Plan for Ukraine and is calling on EU countries to transfer additional air defense systems. The plan is to be implemented by next winter.
In January, the European Commission presented a plan to provide Ukraine with a loan of 90 billion euros, which was agreed at a summit in mid-December. According to the plan, 30 billion euros will go to budget support and 60 billion to Kyiv's defense needs.
After that, a dispute arose in the EU over granting Kyiv a loan of 90 billion euros.
Already on February 11, it became known that the European Parliament approved a loan to Ukraine for 90 billion euros.
