EU FMs agree €3.5bn boost to military aid fund
The European Union on Monday decided to increase the fund used for financing military assistance to Ukraine by another EUR 3.5 billion, Reuters reports.
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At a meeting in Luxembourg, EU foreign ministers agreed to increase funding for compensating the costs of weapons and equipment sent to Ukraine and other partner countries by another EUR 3.5 billion, thus raising the ceiling of the European Peace Facility to about EUR 12 billion.
In addition to Ukraine, money from the EPF can also be used to aid Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Lebanon, and Mauritania.
"Today's decision will again ensure that we have the funding to continue delivering concrete military support to our partners’ armed forces," the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell, who had requested the increase, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto, speaking in Luxembourg, said that his country would not lift a block on a 500 million euro tranche of the existing fund until Kyiv removes Hungarian bank OTP from a list of companies it deems "international sponsors" of Russia's war in Ukraine.
The EUR EUR 5 billion-strong fund, established in 2021, was meant for the EU to help developing countries buy military equipment.
However, it turned out to be useful in supplying Ukraine with weapons – by letting EU members claim back a portion of the cost of material given to Kyiv – since Russia’s full-scale invasion last February.