The European Union (EU) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky feared the worst: a persistent blockage on the part of Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister, against the massive EU aid plan for Ukraine, at a time when the American Congress continues to be torn apart over the financing of support for kyiv. Against all expectations, the Twenty-Seven arrived in a few minutes, Thursday 1er February, to make the nationalist leader bend in order to activate the envelope of 50 billion euros promised over four years to kyiv.
It was barely 11:26 a.m. when Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, announced the news: “We reached an agreementhe wrote on the social network This agreement guarantees stable, predictable and long-term financing for Ukraine. » In order to reach a compromise, Mr. Michel had brought together at the very beginning of the morning Viktor Orban, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the president of the Italian council, Giorgia Meloni, and Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the Commission.
The Hungarian Prime Minister, while repeating his criticisms of the support given to Ukraine, he who calls for a ceasefire between Kiev and Moscow and peace talks, then agreed to support the twenty-six other member states in exchange for regular debates, at management level, on the implementation of these funds. While Budapest demanded in recent days an annual right to review this envelope, accompanied by a unanimous vote, it was just agreed to invite “if necessary, within two years” the Commission to propose the revision of the budget concerned. “No gift was given to him”assured the French head of state at the end of the negotiations.
Six weeks of intense negotiations
This is a real relief for Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky thanked EU leaders for establishing the Ukraine Facility. “It is very important that the decision was taken by the twenty-seven leaders, which once again proves the strong unity of the EUhe recalled on X. Continuing EU financial support for Ukraine will strengthen long-term economic and financial stability, which is no less important than military assistance and sanctions pressure on Russia. »
From March, after the green light expected at the end of February from the European Parliament, the Twenty-Seven hope to be able to make the first payments to kyiv. This is aid on an unprecedented scale for an EU candidate country with which accession negotiations have not yet started. “Russia cannot therefore count on any fatigue from Europeans in their support for Ukraine”welcomed Emmanuel Macron.
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