European Union approves new financial aid package for Ukraine

The leaders of all 27 European Union countries on Thursday agreed to provide Ukraine with $54 billion to support its struggling economy. Officials approved the deal at the beginning of a summit in Brussels, European Council President Charles Michel wrote in a social media post. The new funding is part of the EU’s budget plans through 2027. Hungary joined the coalition in approving the deal after it vetoed the effort in December. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had criticized the EU for its decision to freeze some coalition funding to his government amid allegations that democracy is threatened in Hungary.

Is Ukraine joining the EU? In December, the EU voted unanimously to begin accession talks to make Ukraine a member of the coalition. Orbán opposed the decision but chose to abstain from the vote instead of vetoing the measure. Kyiv applied for membership in February of 2022, and the EU granted it candidate status in June of that year.

Dig deeper: Read Jill Nelson’s report in WORLD Magazine on politicians pushing to cut funding for Ukraine.