(VOVWORLD) - Diplomatic sources in Europe have said that the European Union (EU) is preparing a contingency plan to provide up to 20 billion euros in aid to Ukraine, which does not depend on the consent of Hungary’s Prime Minister.
 The flags of Ukraine and the EU (Photo: AFP) |
At the EU Summit on December 14-15 in Brussels, EU leaders failed to reach a consensus on the European Commission’s (EC) proposal to grant Ukraine up to 50 billion euros in the form of loans to maintain its state apparatus. However, Hungarian Viktor Orban opposed the proposal, forcing the EU to postpone further discussion of this plan until next February.
Under the new contingency plan, member states must provide guarantees to the EU budget, which will allow the EC to borrow up to 20 billion euros from capital markets to provide Ukraine.
The scheme is similar to the one used in 2020 to help countries cope with the COVID‑19 pandemic and does not require the agreement of all EU countries. If the main participants include countries with high credit ratings, the EU will be able to override Hungary’s veto.