Brussels ready to make concessions to Budapest on Kiev's financing - media

BRUSSELS. Jan 12 (Interfax) - European diplomats have come up with a compromise solution that will help overcome Hungary's blockade of macrofinancial assistance to Ukraine until 2027, Euractiv reported on Friday.

"We have engagement [with Hungary] and that is a positive," the online media outlet close to EU institutions quoted an unnamed official involved in the talks with Budapest as saying.

According to Euractiv, EU officials say Brussels may agree to the idea of revising in 2025 the Ukraine assistance program for 2024-2027 with regard for an evaluation of how European taxpayers' money is being used and whether the conditions set of Kiev for financial assistance are being fulfilled.

Such revision should also help Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who vetoed the decision to provide Ukraine with 50 billion euros in the revised EU budget at the EU summit in December 2023, to again disagree with Kiev financing in 2024 if the need arises.

Euractiv also reported, citing its European sources, that an "emergency brake" may be proposed, which can be activated by any EU state in the event of concerns about the financing provided.

The permanent representatives of the EU states on January 10 authorized a partial mandate for talks between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament on a 50 billion euro package for Ukraine, although Budapest has not withdrawn its threat to again veto it at the special EU summit on February 1, which will make a new attempt to revise the long-term EU budget for 2021-2027 with regard for the many-billion assistance to Ukraine until 2027, Euractiv said.

The European Commission's initial proposal on a four-year package for Ukraine envisaged the provision of 17 billion euros in subsidies and 33 billion euros in loans.

Hungary said it may authorize such financing if the 50 billion euro package is divided into four packages worth 12.5 billion euros with annual decisions on them, Euractiv said.

The Council of the European Union said on January 10 the Committee of the Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) had authorized a partial mandate on the new "dedicated instrument to support Ukraine's recovery, reconstruction and modernization."

The Council said in a communique released in Brussels that "the Ukraine Facility would thus pool the EU's budget support to Ukraine into one single instrument, providing coherent, predictable as well as flexible support for the period 2024-2027 to Ukraine."

"The Council's partial negotiating mandate does not include budget-related issues, in particular the overall size of the instrument and the share of grants and loans," which will depend on the final result of the talk on the revision of the many-year financial plan for 2021-2027.

The Council's partial negotiating mandate does not include budget-related issues, in particular the overall size of the instrument and the share of grants and loans.