Thanks to an unprecedented decision, Kyiv will receive a record amount of EUR 1.2 billion for ammunition and air defense.
Warsaw is pleased that the European Union intends to provide Ukraine with around 3 billion euros annually. "Thanks to the consistent actions of 26 member states, despite Hungary's obstruction, the first interest payments from frozen Russian assets, amounting to at least 1.2 billion euros, will support Ukraine's heroic defenders later this summer," announced Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski on private broadcaster RMF FM.
90% of the grants for Ukraine will be allocated for the purchase of weapons, and 10% for economic reconstruction. The funds will be disbursed in two installments. According to reports, this solution is unprecedented in the European Union and record-breaking in terms of the amount allocated.
Recently, the Financial Times reported that EU lawyers found an effective way to bypass Hungary's veto, which consistently blocks European initiatives related to arming Ukraine.
"Since Budapest previously refrained from deciding on transferring the income from assets frozen in Euroclear's deposit to Ukraine, it should not participate in the decision-making on the use of these funds," declared the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell was quoted as saying by FT.
Although Hungary continues to block several EU initiatives aimed at arming Ukraine (e.g. through the European Peace Facility) for a total of EUR 6.6 billion, Brussels has managed to find a complex but fully legal solution to this problem.
(mp/jh)
Source: PAP, RMF FM
