EU urges Ukraine to continue implementing reforms for financial aid

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
29 Jul 2024 16:10

Ukraine is one of the nine countries in European that does not have official membership in the EU that is identified as a candidate state, and needs to abide by several strict conditions to begin accession talks for membership.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau following their talks in Kiev on June 10, 2023. (AFP)

Ukraine needs to continue advancing reforms required for its European Union accession in order to secure additional financial aid from Brussels, EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said on Monday.

"To fully comply with all membership criteria, Ukraine must remain committed to this process and continue its reforms, and here I want to underline the key role that the rule of law fundamentals play," Varhelyi said in Budapest, adding, "Enlargement is and remains a merit-based process."

The European Commission plans to increase its financial support for Ukraine, providing the country with up to 50 billion euros ($54.2 billion) in loans backed by frozen Russian state assets from 2024-2027, the Hungarian diplomat said in a conference on the State of Play of the Western Balkan and Eastern Enlargements of the European Union.

"Two weeks ago, on July 17, the Commission made a positive assessment to release the first regular installment under the Ukraine Facility, which was close to 4.2 billion euros. All in all, we plan to pay 16 billion euros to Ukraine's budget in 2024, subject to the country fulfilling the reform conditionalities," Varhelyi said.

Ukraine's EU status

Ukraine is one of the nine countries in European that does not have official membership in the European Union, identifying as a candidate state alongside Moldova, which was granted by the bloc in June 2022. However, both countries have to abide by several strict conditions to begin accession talks for potential EU membership.

Brussels held the first accession negotiations with Ukraine in June, a year after Kiev's candidate status was granted symbolically to showcase support for it amid its ongoing war with Russia.

In March, the European Council increased its budget for Ukraine, granting an additional $5.4 billion in military aid through lethal and non-lethal military equipment and weapons by establishing the Ukraine Assistance Fund funded by the European Peace Facility.

Since the beginning of Ukraine's conflict with Russia in February 2022, Kiev has received significant military and financial aid from Western countries, which Russia's Kremlin has warned against due to the potential escalation of the war.

EU transfers €1.5Bln to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets

On Friday, the EU sent €1.5 billion to Ukraine, marking the first transfer under a new scheme utilizing Russia's frozen assets, which is estimated at €210 billion across the bloc, Euro News reports.

90% of this financial aid will fund weapons, ammunition, and air defense systems for Ukraine, while the remaining 10% will support reconstruction, particularly of the energy infrastructure damaged by Russian strikes.

The initiative reportedly intends "to prevent a humanitarian crisis and migration surge" due to power grid destruction.

Months in the making, the scheme overcame Hungary's initial opposition by finding a legal workaround.

The first transfer amount increased from €1.4 billion to €1.5 billion due to interest rate variations.