The European Union (EU) will provide Ukraine with 4.5 billion euros in March. The amount is part of a 50 billion euro support package already approved, the European Commission president said on Saturday.
Taking advantage of her visit to Ukraine on the day that marks two years since the start of the Russian invasion, Ursula von der Leyen announced this first payment on social network X after a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal.
The total aid package of 50 billion euros covers the next four years and is integrated into EU budgets after the presidents and prime ministers of 27 countries managed to get the Hungarian government to veto the plan on February 1, allowing for an agreement.
In her publication, Von der Leyen explained that, in addition to the use of these funds, at the meeting with Shmygal they discussed the state of Ukrainian exports, which since the beginning of the war have enjoyed preferential treatment in the EU market due to the temporary suspension of tariffs.
Von der Leyen and Shmygal discussed “problems at land borders” caused by these exports, which prompted Brussels to introduce safeguards in case any EU country saw its agricultural markets affected, following protests from five states close to Ukraine, namely Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. , Bulgaria and Romania.
The meeting also helped define joint efforts between the EU and Kyiv to develop a powerful military industry, as von der Leyen explained in X.
This is Ursula von der Leyen’s seventh visit to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
This time, the EU leader is accompanied by Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council, as well as Prime Ministers of Italy Giorgia Meloni and Canada Justin Trudeau, who will also take part in the events. dedicated to the second anniversary of the start of the war.
The war in Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, when Russia launched a military offensive under the pretext of protecting pro-Russian territories and eliminating alleged Nazism in the neighboring country.
The Russian invasion triggered the most serious security crisis in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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