EU to use COVID-19 mechanism to bypass Orbán’s veto and provide Ukraine with €20 billion

Brussels: The European Union is preparing an alternative plan to provide Ukraine with EUR 20 billion (22.09 billion USD) in financial support to circumvent the veto of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, reported the Financial Times.

The proposed mechanism could be used if Orbán’s veto cannot be overcome at the planned summit on Feb. 1., said the report.

This plan involves guarantees from EU member states to the European budget, enabling the European Commission (EC) to raise up to 20 billion euros on capital markets to support Ukraine.

The specific timeline and final amount will be determined based on Ukraine’s needs.

The approach is like the EC’s COVID-19 response, when 100 billion EUR was provided to EU countries in 2020.

This option does not require guarantees from all 27 EU member states, allowing the inclusion of countries with the highest credit ratings as principal participants.

As unanimous support is not required, the approach would allow the EU to bypass Hungary’s veto.

Some countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, may require parliamentary approval to provide national guarantees.

The process is expected to be ready to provide assistance to Ukraine by March.