According to information received by Polish Radio’s Brussels correspondent Beata Płomecka, the budget provides financing for cohesion policy and the Common Agricultural Policy, which is important for Poland. The pool of money for projects that Poland cared about was increased. These arrangements must still be formally confirmed by member states by a majority vote at one of the ministerial councils in the coming weeks and by MEPs in a vote at the plenary session.
EU budget agreed. Poland satisfied. Problem with financing Ukraine
Next year, there will be more money for asylum and migration funds and border management funds. This means greater support for countries that have accepted refugees and those that protect the EU’s external border. There will also be more money for projects related to military mobility and infrastructure projects in which Poland participates. The Erasmus educational program will also be more co-financed.
Next year’s budget is also to include an increased amount of humanitarian aid for both Ukraine and Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, but this will not be at the expense of humanitarian support for Kiev. Poland is also satisfied with the joint declaration of the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission, following the example of last year, that in the event of a significant acceleration of the implementation of projects financed from the EU budget, changes will be introduced next year so that all invoices sent to the Commission will be paid off.
However, next year’s budget does not include additional money for Ukraine to maintain the functioning of the state and the activities of key institutions in the face of the Russian attack. This will require changes to the EU budget. “Now it’s time for the review, without which it will be very difficult to provide funds for Ukraine and for other necessary tasks until 2027. The Parliament is ready and waiting for the unanimous decision of the Council,” commented MEP Jan Olbrycht, one of the negotiators.
The European Commission has proposed to transfer EUR 50 billion to Ukraine over the next four years. There is no unanimity among EU countries on this matter yet, as Hungary and Slovakia expressed their opposition at the recent summit.
The EU will probably not fulfill its obligations regarding ammunition supplies to Ukraine
It is very unlikely that the European Union will fulfill its commitment to deliver one million rounds of artillery ammunition to Ukraine by March 2024. According to Bloomberg, EU institutions provided this information to member states.
In March, the EU pledged to deliver one million missiles to Ukraine within a year. In May, the Community allocated half a billion euros to increase ammunition production and one billion euros to purchase missiles from member states. However, as Bloomberg found, by October the EU had transferred only 300,000 rounds of ammunition to Ukraine, i.e. it had completed one third of the planned deliveries.
Kiev needs ammunition supplies because Moscow is increasing its own ammunition production. The Russians already fire many more missiles than the Ukrainians. In March, Ukrainian authorities reported that they fired an average of 110,000 155-millimeter bullets a month, or a quarter of what Russia uses.
EU defense ministers are to talk next week about ammunition deliveries to Ukraine.
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Source: Gazeta
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