EU to prioritize support for Ukraine, enhanced defense capacities in coming years - European Commission president
BRUSSELS. June 28 (Interfax) - Support for Ukraine and larger defense budgets will be the European Union priorities for the next institutional cycle, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
"Today, we have paid 1.9 billion euros in pre-financing under the Ukraine Facility," von der Leyen said at a press conference in Brussels early on Friday morning, following a European Council meeting that nominated her for the second term of office.
She noted the importance of a revision of the EU financial plan for 2021-2027, which allowed creating the 50-billion-euro Ukraine Facility. She mentioned the recent adoption of the 14th package of sanctions against Russia, the launch of negotiations on the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the European Union, and the agreement on security commitments with Ukraine signed on Thursday.
Von der Leyen informed the EU summit about the G7 initiative to allot $50 billion in loans to Ukraine and said the work had begun to provide the funds to Kiev by year-end.
EU security and defense are also significant, von der Leyen said. "Europe as a whole needs to step up on defense," she said.
She said that Russia and China are much ahead of the European Union in terms of defense budget enlargement.
"We estimate that additional defense investments of around 500 billion euros are needed over the next decade," she said.
The long-term budget plan can provide some of the funding, but that would not be enough for all defense projects, von der Leyen said, adding that several options, including extra spending on the national level, had been prepared. The European Commission's proposal "is on the table of the council," she said.
Von der Leyen welcomed the European Council's approval of the EU strategic agenda for 2024-2029, which set political priorities for the heads of 27 member states in the next institutional cycle. The agenda begins with an evaluation of geopolitical realities and, in particular, envisages an enhancement of European defense capacities, she said.
