According to an unnamed official quoted by British journalists, the EU has agreed that it should continue to help in this regard, but they do not yet know how to provide the promised funding.
The European Union’s decision to launch Ukraine’s EU accession talks next month is in jeopardy after the provision of an additional 50 billion euros in aid to Kiev sparked mixed reactions in the bloc. This was stated by a senior official on Friday, November 17, British agency Reuters reported.
According to the publication’s unnamed source, the criticism reflects fatigue in Ukraine, which has been trying to resist the Russian occupation since February 2022, and growing anxiety among Kiev’s Western backers as the war drags on.
Following EU promises of continued support for Ukraine, recent discussions in the bloc on more aid to Kiev have become a kind of “real test”, according to the official.
“The leaders… realized that this was quite expensive,” said an official involved in preparations for the summit of national leaders of the 27 EU member states, planned to be held in Brussels on December 14-15. “How will we finance this?”
The official noted that the European Commission’s attempt to revise the budget by allocating an additional 50 billion euros to Ukraine until 2027 has received criticism from various quarters.
According to him, the latest decision of the German constitutional court on the budget has greatly reduced the maneuverability of the EU’s largest donor.
“We can’t let Ukraine go bankrupt, that’s not an option. But it’s not easy,” added the official, speaking anonymously about talks being held behind closed doors between EU leaders.
The official expressed doubts about the start of formal negotiations on Ukraine’s EU membership, arguing that a decision on a decision at the upcoming summit is in danger. Among the reasons, he stated that Hungary’s opposition could prevent the necessary unanimity for this step. The official also said that some EU leaders have proposed returning to discuss this issue in March 2024, after a promised assessment of Ukraine’s compliance with the remaining conditions by the European Commission.
While Hungary openly supports the development of a new EU strategy on the war between Russia and Ukraine, other member states of the bloc are increasingly expressing skepticism about the further development of events after the failure of hopes for a successful counter-attack from Ukraine.
“Perhaps our expectations were too high,” the official said. “Will we continue to provide financial and military support to Ukraine? Do we have the resources to do so? Are we confident that the United States will follow our example in the coming years?”
“It’s not like people are calling for peace. Individual members of the council were very clear that at some point we have to end this. There is consensus to continue supporting Ukraine, but some of these problems are still ahead of us.” official summary.
Let us recall that on November 14 it became known that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine agreed on two draft laws developed by the Ministry of Justice, the adoption of which is a condition for the European Commission to start negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
It was previously reported that on November 8, the European Commission officially proposed the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
Source: Focus
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