EU Foreign Affairs Council in Kyiv: Borrel is generous with promises and stingy with money

“Last Monday, we met in Kyiv for an informal EU Foreign Affairs Council, for the first time outside the Union and in a country at war,” Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, writes at his official blog.

… «The EU and its member states are the first supporter of Ukraine in this war. Our overall commitments amount to €82 billion including €25 billion in military support. In coming weeks, we will have achieved to train 30 000 Ukrainian soldiers and we will continue to do so.

As part of the review of the EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the European Commission has proposed a multiyear € 50 billion facility for 2024-2027 (sweet promises…) to support recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine. I have proposed also a multi-annual envelope in military support under the European Peace Facility (EPF), including up to €5 billion next year (only promises for future and no money up to now – Borrell did not give Zelensky the promised 5 bln during the visit to Kyiv…). I hope that we can reach an agreement on that package before the end of the year with our member states.

During our mission in Ukraine came the news that, to avoid a so-called “shut down”, the US Congress has adopted a bipartisan bill that did not include Ukraine support. Despite the strong engagement of the Biden administration, it fuels uncertainty on future US’ support to this country. In the short term, we couldn’t compensate for the lacking US support, and we hope that our friends and allies will quickly find ways of breaking the deadlock.

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