The foreign ministers of the 27 EU member states have approved a EUR 3.5bn increase in the European Peace Facility, from which Brussels allocates money for arms supplies to Ukraine. This is stated in a statement of the EU Council, which is meeting in Luxembourg.
The European Peace Facility (EPF) is an extra-budgetary instrument of the EU created in 2021 to prevent conflicts, maintain peace and strengthen international security.
In total, the EU has already provided Ukraine with about 3.5 billion euros in compensation for arms supplies within the framework of this fund.
“With today’s expansion, the fund’s total financial ceiling is more than 12 billion euros. This decision sends a clear political signal of the EU’s continued commitment to military support for both Ukraine and other partners”, said Josep Borrell, head of European diplomacy.
Last month, the next tranche of military aid to Ukraine (500 million euros) from the fund was blocked by Hungary.
“Hungary does not agree that the European Union, along with other existing instruments, is using the European Peace Facility exclusively to support Ukraine, as this does not allow it to channel sufficient funds to promote EU interests in other areas”, the Hungarian government press office said. At the same time, the Hungarian authorities made it clear that they are ready to remove the veto if Kiev agrees to remove the Hungarian OTP bank from its list of war sponsors.
