Financial Times: E.U. preparing contingency plan to fund Ukraine without Hungary’s participation

E.U. leaders are developing a contingency plan to fund Ukraine that will not require the consent of all member countries, reports The Financial Times.

According to the FT, E.U. leaders are considering two possible options for financing Ukraine. The first involves European countries issuing financial guarantees for the E.U., which would allow the European Commission to borrow up to 20 billion euros (about $22 billion) from capital markets to aid Kyiv. This financing option doesn’t require guarantees from all E.U. countries but needs the states with the highest credit rating to participate.

The other option involves giving Ukraine cheap short-term loans. In 2023, Ukraine received 18 billion euros (about $20 billion) this way, writes the FT.

Officials say the preferred option is still the long-term 50-billion-euro (about $55 billion) aid package, which Hungry blocked. However, E.U. leaders will resort to another option if Hungary uses its veto again, as they have promised to provide assistance to Ukraine in one form or another no later than March 2024, reports the FT.