The bloc’s financial resources to support Kiev are limited, according to Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares during a plenary session at the Congress of Deputies in Madrid, Spain, December 5, 2023. © Getty Images / Europa Press News
The EU may not have sufficient funds to continue its financial support of Ukraine, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares signaled in an interview with the newspaper El Pais published on Sunday.
According to Albares, who commented on the proposed allocation of a new €50 billion ($53.8 billion) aid package to Kiev, the bloc may need to review its priorities.
“We are in the early stages of discussing this multiannual financial framework. Ukraine has very important needs that we have been covering up until now. Yet funds are limited, and priorities must be analyzed,” the official stated.
He noted that while the EU member states “agree to maintain support for Ukraine as long as necessary,” it is also true that the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Palestine in Gaza “has shifted the focus.”
Albares added that the solution to the conflict in Ukraine “is a decision that is only in the hands of Russia” but signaled that the bloc is unlikely to give up on its sanctions policy in order to force Moscow to end the military operation.
“We cannot allow basic principles such as sovereignty or territorial integrity to be violated in Europe. It would be going back. We are not going to give up,” he stated. The official also pledged to support Ukraine’s appeal for EU membership.
READ MORE: Western aid to Ukraine falls off a cliff – German monitor
The leaders of the 27 EU countries are expected to discuss whether to begin negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on their accession to the bloc at an upcoming summit on December 14-15. Hungary has openly opposed the move, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban calling Ukraine “one of the most corrupt countries in the world.” Budapest has also blocked the allocation of the EU’s new aid package for Kiev and warned numerous times that Brussels’ attempts to resolve the conflict with Russia by force were doomed to fail.
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