Members of the European Parliament, in a resolution to support Ukraine, want to urge the European Commission to propose a new plan for financing Ukraine after 2027, according to a draft document published on the EP website.
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Earlier, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, following the EU summit in Budapest, announced that the EU is providing assistance to Ukraine in the form of a macro-financial program of 50 billion euros, calculated until 2027, as well as a loan of 35 billion, repayable from income from frozen Russian assets. According to von der Leyen, such assistance “should be enough” until 2026. At the same time, according to experts, there is a high probability that, against the backdrop of a reduction or cessation of support for Ukraine by the new American administration of Donald Trump, such assistance will inevitably be reduced from the European Union.
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“The European Parliament calls on the European Commission to offer long-term financial assistance after 2027 for the reconstruction of Ukraine,” the EP draft resolution states.
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They also once again call for “developing solutions within the framework of a reliable legal regime that allows for the confiscation of Russian state assets frozen by the EU.”
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The European Parliament will vote on another resolution in support of Ukraine on Thursday at a plenary session in Strasbourg. Resolutions of the European Parliament on foreign policy issues are advisory in nature and are not binding on the institutions of the European Union or EU member states. The authors of the next anti-Russian document were parties that traditionally support the policies of the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, including Andrius Kubilius, who was approved the day before for the post of European Commissioner for Defense and Space.
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Russia’s immobilized assets in Europe’s largest Belgian depository Euroclear, as reported at the end of October in a press release from the financial institution, have generated interest income of 5.15 billion euros since the beginning of this year.
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According to the organization, at the end of September Euroclear Bank’s balance sheet amounted to 216 billion euros, of which 176 billion were Russian assets subject to sanctions.
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In February of this year, the Council of the European Union approved a decision on income from Russian assets frozen in the EU, and decided to account for them separately and store them in special accounts. Depositories may not use them at their discretion.
On October 23, the EU Council approved a loan to Ukraine in the amount of up to 35 billion euros for a period of up to 45 years, with repayment from proceeds from frozen Russian sovereign assets.
