Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression, the EU has provided financial, humanitarian and military aid worth EUR 81 billion to Ukraine. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen stated this at the EPP Group Study Days in Split, Croatia, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“Russia's war against Ukraine has proven that there is a strong need for Europe to adapt to a more dangerous and volatile geostrategic and geopolitical environment. We have stepped up our efforts towards a Defence Union and strengthened our ties with trusted global partners but also with NATO allies. All of this while supporting Ukraine financially as well as with military support and humanitarian aid, with a sum of by now EUR 81 billion,” she said.
The European Commission president stressed that Russia attempted to blackmail on energy that strained the EU energy system. But thanks to a very determined and united answer, the EU has gotten largely rid of its dependency on Russian fossil fuels. Energy prices, that were skyrocketing last year in summer, have come back down to pre-war levels, she noted.
“But we know that they remain structurally high. This is one of the topics we will discuss when we look at competitiveness globally on the international scene. A key solution to that is to engage and to improve the clean technologies. Because this increases our independence, it is good-paying jobs here, it is homegrown energy, it reinforces our competitiveness and strengthens our sovereignty,” she said.
This year the EU allocated EUR 18 billion in macro-financial assistance to Ukraine. The EU is now considering a proposal of the European Commission to revise the EU budget for 2024-2027 and to foresee establishing the Ukrainian Facility in the amount of EUR 50 billion.
