The European Council announced on Saturday that it had reached an agreement on a legislative package that would allow the EU to provide 18 billion euros in financial aid to Ukraine through 2023. The proposal was adopted today by the Council by written procedure and will be sent to the European Parliament for possible adoption next week. On Tuesday, Hungary vetoed the package proposed by the European Commission in the form of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine for 2023 in the amount of 18 billion euros.

According to the press release of the European Council, the package provides a structural solution for the financial support of Ukraine in 2023. The amount that will be lent to Ukraine in 2023 will be 18 billion euros, and the loans will have a grace period of 10 years.

Member States will cover most of the interest costs from externally assigned revenues. Guarantees for the corresponding loans will be provided either from the EU budget or from the member states.

The goal is to provide short-term financial assistance to finance Ukraine’s urgent needs and restore critical infrastructure, as well as initial support for sustainable post-war reconstruction to support Ukraine on its path to European integration.

Part of the legislative package, an amendment to the Financial Regulation, was already adopted by the ECOFIN Council on December 6.

“Ukraine can count on the EU. We will continue to support Ukraine, including financially, as long as it is needed. The legislation we adopted today means that Ukraine can count on regular financial assistance from the EU during 2023,” said Czech Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura.

Hungary vetoed the EU package for Ukraine in the amount of 18 billion euros

On Tuesday, Hungary opposed, vetoing the European Commission’s 18 billion euro macro-financial aid package for Ukraine for 2023, and then the European Commission announced that it would seek a solution – with the support of the rest of the EU bloc – to direct financial aid to Kyiv.

Opposition from Hungary, the only one of the EU’s 27 members to reject the aid, comes amid negotiations on other matters that concern Budapest: approval of a recovery plan for the central European country and a freeze on European funds for non-compliance.

The European Union is negotiating with Hungary to unlock billions of euros in aid in exchange for Budapest lifting its veto on providing a joint loan to Ukraine, Reuters writes.

The EU executive has reiterated that recent changes to improve anti-corruption safeguards in Hungary have not removed concerns about the state of democracy in the country, nor do they justify providing up to €13.3 billion in funds.

It will be recalled that the EU blocked the funds due to concerns about corruption and a decrease in the independence of the judicial system in Hungary, which, in turn, blocked by veto the EU loan to Kyiv and the proposal for a global income tax.

• The EU is conducting tough negotiations with Hungary. Billions of euros for Budapest in exchange for a loan for Ukraine