EU to double Ukraine’s military aid fund on Monday – Reuters

At the same time, most likely there will be no decision on a new tranche of the European Peace Fund for Ukraine.

European Union foreign ministers have decided to increase the military aid fund by 3.5 billion euros , which will be used to finance weapons and ammunition for Ukraine, Reuters reports citing sources.

Ministers are expected to raise the financial ceiling of the European Peace Fund, which currently has a budget of about 7.9 billion euros, at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.

At the same time, according to officials, Hungary continues to block the allocation of another tranche of the fund in the amount of 500 million euros for Ukraine.

Budapest has said it will not lift the blockage until Kyiv removes the Hungarian bank OTP from the list of companies it considers “international sponsors” of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“A decision will be made on Monday to replenish the European Peace Fund by 3.5 billion euros,” a senior EU official said on condition of anonymity. “But there will be no decision on a new tranche of the European Peace Fund for Ukraine, because there is still no agreement on this between member states.”

At the same time, EURACTIV , citing three EU diplomats, reports that Hungary eventually lifted its veto.

The publication writes that Budapest’s official claims are related to the fact that the Fund should help not only Ukraine, but also other countries of the world. At the same time, Hungary has repeatedly made it clear that its claims are related to the inclusion of OTP Bank in the list of sponsors of the war.

Although Budapest understands that only 1 billion euros will go to support Ukraine, two diplomats said that member states have not yet finalized an agreement on a specific amount.

(C)UNIAN 2023