European Union member nations are preparing a workaround to provide Ukraine with a promised €50-billion reconstruction aid package even if Hungary vetoes it, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources.
Under the backup plan, individual member states would offer national guarantees to attract financing in the markets and substitute for the EU's so-called Ukraine Facility, an aid package comprised of loans and non-repayable funds for the reconstruction of Ukraine to be disbursed by 2027.
The Ukraine Facility is attached to the EU's long-term budget, which must be reviewed by all 27 member states and receive unanimous approval. The package will carry a series of conditions obliging Ukraine to adhere to strict rules of transparency and a timetable for reconstruction.
Hungary has indicated it could use its veto power to block EU accession talks with Ukraine, and possibly some aid, to protest a recently approved law that obliges ethnic minorities in Ukraine, including Hungarians, to receive at least 70% of their education in the Ukrainian language.
