From the BBC:
“EU leaders unlock €50bn
support package for Ukraine”
All 27 EU leaders have agreed a
€50bn aid package for Ukraine after Hungary had previously blocked the deal. Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the new funding, saying it would
strengthen the country's economic and financial stability. Ukraine's economic
ministry said it expects the first tranche of funds in March. There had been
fears Hungary's PM would again block the package as he did at a European summit
last December. Viktor Orban, Russian president Vladimir Putin's closest ally in
the EU, had said he wanted to force a rethink of the bloc's policy towards
Ukraine and questioned the idea of committing to fund Kyiv for the next four
years.
The package will help to pay
pensions and salaries and other costs over the next four years. It comes as US
military aid for Ukraine is being held up by Congress. News of the agreement
was announced less than two hours after the summit started, surprising many
observers who had expected talks to go on much longer due to the depth of
disagreement between Mr Orban and the other EU leaders. Diplomatic sources told
Reuters that the new deal includes a yearly discussion of the package and the
option to review it in two years, "if needed". Mr Orban had been
pushing for a yearly vote on the package, but this could have left the deal
exposed to an annual veto threat from Hungary. "A good day for
Europe," Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission,
said on X.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelensky said he was "grateful" to EU leaders, highlighting that the
decision was taken by all 27 heads of state. He also said that the package
would "strengthen the long-term economic and financial stability" of
Ukraine. The funding was important for Ukraine financially - and because it
needs Europe to stay united in its support. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro
Kuleba had underlined that it was about Europe investing in its own security.
He stressed that Ukraine was resisting Russia for everyone - blocking Vladimir
Putin's attempt to challenge the world order by force. Polish Prime Minister
Donald Tusk, who had been highly critical of what he called Mr Orban's
"strange and egotistic game," posted on X: "Viktor Orban could
be 'persuaded'... Let's move on."
^ 27 EU Member Countries have
done what the Republicans and the Democrats in the US Congress have not been
able to do: pass Aid to help Ukraine.
Even when given an American
Border Deal, which they wanted, the House Republicans are still refusing to
keep the Federal Government open (something that should have been done on
October 1, 2023), or to pass Aid for Israel and Ukraine.
That says a lot about the In-Fighting
between both of our Parties, Fighting between our Different Parties and
disfunction we have.
Our Politicians act as though
they are on some great Crusade yet our cities aren’t being bombed daily or
occupied by a Foreign Country (like Russia) or by Terrorists (like Hamas.)
We have things (like our Border,
Federal Government Shutdown Threat, etc.) that need to be addressed and fixed, but
giving Aid to Israel and Ukraine so they can both do what us Americans refuse
to do: stop the Russians and the Terrorists. ^
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.