Greece will not agree to a revision of the European Union’s multi-year budget if it includes only Ukraine and nothing else, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told reporters after the European Council summit in Brussels.
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Earlier, the head of the EC proposed amendments to the multi-year EU budget for the period from 2024 to 2027, which would increase it by 66 billion euros, including assistance to Ukraine, the implementation of migration and refugee programs and strengthening the competitiveness of the union. Of this, 50 billion euros in the form of grants and loans are proposed to be provided over the next four years for financial assistance to Kyiv. Mitsotakis demanded increased resources to solve the problem of migration and for the European Union Solidarity Fund.
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According to Mitsotakis, the first discussion of the EU budget review was “not easy”.
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“On the one hand, the European Commission emphasized – and rightly, in my opinion – a new reality that requires additional resources. Europe comes and says that in addition to the 50 billion that we all want and agree to give to Ukraine, we need additional resources for migration , to support neighboring countries with which we cooperate to reduce migration flows. We need additional resources for the Solidarity Fund so that we can support countries affected by natural disasters. We need additional resources for the new STEP development instrument, which has already been announced by the European Commission, and also to cover the increase in the cost of borrowing under loans from the Recovery Fund,” the Greek Prime Minister said.
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According to him, there are countries that do not want to hear anything about a budget increase other than Europe’s commitment to support the economy.
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“I have made Greece’s position absolutely clear: Greece is not going to agree to a solution that only includes Ukraine and nothing else,” Mitsotakis said.
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“I am grateful to the European Commission for the redistribution of funds allocated from the Recovery Fund so that we can quickly begin reconstruction projects in Thessaly, but we cannot now say that the Solidarity Fund has in principle been exhausted and countries affected by natural disasters cannot claim new resources, because such European resources simply do not exist,” the prime minister noted.
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In his opinion, a solution to these problems should be found by December.
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“And I think that if we have to prioritize the additional measures that the European Commission is asking for, then the fight against immigration will be our top priority,” the prime minister added.
