Council of EU increases financial ceiling of European Peace Facility to almost 8 bln euros, Ukraine among major recipients

BRUSSELS. March 14 (Interfax) - The Council of the European Union said on Tuesday that it has decided to raise the financial ceiling of the European Peace Facility (EPF) to 7.979 billion euros (in current prices) until 2027 in order to ensure that additional financial needs could be covered; one of the main recipients of the EPF is Ukraine.

"Today's decision brings the financial ceiling of the European Peace Facility to over 7.9 billion euros," High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said.

"Ensuring the financial sustainability of this instrument is crucial for our support not only to Ukraine, but also for our partners in other parts of Europe, Africa and the Middle East, as needs continue to arise," the EU foreign policy chief added.

The Council of the EU communique noted that this decision "implements the political agreement reached on 12 December 2022, when the Council decided to increase the overall EPF financial ceiling by 2 billion euros (in 2018 prices) in 2023, and allow for the possibility of a further increase at a later stage (up to 5.5 billion euros in 2018 prices until 2027)."