By BRUSSELS. Dec 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The finance ministers of the EUR opean Union countries will discuss the proposal of the EUR opean Commission to provide Ukraine with EUR 18 billion in 2023 within the macro-financial aid plus format specially created for this purpose, while it is unknown whether a decision will be made.
A EUR opean diplomat told this to journalists on condition of anonymity on the eve of a meeting of the Council on Economic and Financial Affairs, which will be held in Brussels on Tuesday.
He explained that there will be three legislative proposals for discussion, including the Macro-Financial Assistance Plus (MFA+) and an amendment to the Financial Regulations, which must be adopted by a qualified majority, and an amendment to the Multiannual Financial Framework, which must be adopted unanimously. The ministers will discuss these proposals and then decide whether to put them to a vote or not. Tomorrow will be decisive (December 6), the diplomat said. No decisions have been made to date.
He also recalled that loans to be provided to Ukraine in 2023 in the amount of EUR 18 billion will have a ten-year grace period. It is proposed that the member states cover the bulk of the interest costs, and guarantees for these borrowings will be provided from the EU budget. The relevant proposals were officially submitted by the EUR opean Commission on November 9, after which the proposals were voted on by the EUR opean Parliament on November 24.
However, Hungary opposes this proposal. So, on December 2, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that he does not want the EU to become a community of debtor states instead of a community of cooperating states. Instead, he invited all EU members to use funds from their own budget to assist Ukraine through bilateral agreements.
It is not ruled out that it is on the proposal of Budapest that the vote can be postponed to a later date.
