Lithuania urges EU to find more money for Ukraine during EU budget review

The European Union should allocate more funds to support Ukraine in its revised long-term budget and replenish the EU's military mobility funds.

Source: This was stated on Saturday by Gintarė Skaistė, the Minister of Finance of Lithuania, reports European Pravda with reference to Reuters.

Details: As part of the review of the EU budget for 2021-2027, in June, the European Commission proposed that 50 billion euros re allocated to Ukraine in the form of grants and loans to support Kyiv financially while it fights Russian aggression.

This year, the EU will pay Ukraine 18 billion euros in the form of highly concessional loans, but if the offer remains at the level of 50 billion euros, then from 2024 to 2027, Ukraine will receive only 12.5 billion annually.

Quote: "If you divide the amount of euros that is in the proposal over four years, the sum will be lower than this year. So our proposal is that maybe we can have the same level as it was in 2023," – said Skaistė.

"If we have the same level as it was in 2023, it would be 72 billion," she added.

She said the EU budget review should also allocate more money for military mobility – roads, ports, bridges and airports that allow armed forces to move quickly – as the €1.7 billion originally allocated for these purposes is not enough.

"We see the need for military mobility infrastructure increasing. It exceeds one billion euros just for Lithuania," she said.

EU governments are aiming to reach an agreement on a revised 2021-2027 budget by the end of 2023, but  negotiations have been difficult as the European Commission has also asked for an extra 15 billion euros to deal with migration issues and extra money to cover rising borrowing costs on the EU's common debt due to the increase in interest rates.

To cover some of the costs, the EU executive wants governments to allocate new special revenue streams from the trading of CO2 emission allowances and 0.5% of the notional profit base of EU companies calculated by Eurostat.

Reminder: In July, the finance ministers of the European Union unanimously supported the allocation of additional funds for Ukraine to replenish its long-term budget.

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