Not to get trapped: EU, U.S. and IMF should create single reform plan for Ukraine
President of the European Council Charles Michel (Photo: Getty Images)
President of the European Council Charles Michel believes that the European Union should create a single reform plan for Ukraine, according to his statement during a briefing in Kyiv on November 21st.
"On the EU side, we ensure that the recommendations or, let's say, conditions expressed by Europe, the United States, the IMF, are consistent because it could become a problem for Ukraine if the EU gave an assessment of this action plan (referring to the draft reform plan for the Ukraine Facility program, which Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal submitted to the European Commission in early November, - Ed.), and then the U.S. had a different opinion, and the IMF had a third," says Michel.
According to him, the European Council also seeks to coordinate, cooperate, as well as clarify, simplify, and facilitate recommendations.
"Essentially, we advise the United States to adhere as much as possible to the recommendations that we convey to Ukraine in the context of EU enlargement, so that Ukraine does not find itself trapped because there will be 10 different opinions about what the priorities are, when a particular law should be voted on, and so on," he emphasized.
Ukraine facility
In June, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced a package of financial aid of around 50 billion euros to support Ukraine.
According to Bloomberg, the aid is expected to be provided in the form of grants, concessional loans, and guarantees over 4 years - from 2024 to 2027. However, the annual support amount will be less than the 18 billion euros proposed by the EU for this year.
