The EU has agreed on security commitments for Ukraine, they are expected no later than early July - Welt
Kyiv • UNN
The European Union plans to provide Ukraine with broad security commitments, including political, military, economic, and reconstruction assistance, by early July, but excluding direct EU military involvement in combat operations against Russia.
The European Union wants to give Ukraine security guarantees. The project is currently being discussed with Kyiv and its details have become known exclusively to Welt am Sonntag. In the document, Brussels clarifies whether it is possible to send EU troops to Ukraine, Welt reports , UNN writes.
Details
"The European Union wants to make broad security commitments to Ukraine to protect it from Russia no later than early July. These include political, military and economic assistance and are designed to ensure Ukraine's accession to the EU and NATO," the newspaper writes.
The responsible ambassadors of the 27 EU member states recently agreed on an eleven-page text, classified as "confidential," which is now being discussed between the European External Action Service and the government in Kyiv
The document, which the newspaper has seen, reads: "The European Union and its member states play a key role in the immediate and long-term security and resilience of Ukraine through military, civilian, humanitarian, financial, trade and economic support, accommodation of displaced persons, support for reform, recovery and reconstruction, as well as through restrictive measures and diplomatic support.
In particular, the EU reportedly assures Ukraine of immediate consultations in the event of further attacks. The draft from the 27 EU countries states: "In the event of future aggression, the European Union and Ukraine intend to hold consultations within 24 hours on Ukraine's needs, exercising its right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
"However, this excludes the direct participation of the EU military together with the Ukrainian military in combat operations against Russia," the publication points out.
However, as noted, Brussels promises Ukraine to continue supplying lethal and non-lethal weapons, to continue training the military, to help reform the security sector, to support demining of the country, and to cooperate in countering hybrid threats and cyberattacks.
"The Ukraine Support Fund will have a budget of 5 billion euros in 2024. Further comparable annual increases can be foreseen until 2027." However, this depends on what the Ukrainian army needs in the future and what additional bilateral contributions the EU countries will make, the publication points out.
At the same time, the EU is committed to providing Ukraine with large-scale reconstruction support. This is likely to require financial assistance that will be at least in the high three-digit range of billions, the publication points out.
A senior EU diplomat privately hinted at how difficult this challenge would be for the Europeans. "At some point, we will also have to participate in financing the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip as a major donor," he said.
"In Brussels, it is generally expected that the European Commission will soon submit a proposal that - similar to the so-called reconstruction fund to combat the effects of the COVID epidemic - provides for a kind of Eurobond to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine and the Gaza Strip," the publication writes.
At the same time, the publication notes that these security commitments that the EU wants to assume "have no more legal force than bilateral agreements on security guarantees." "According to internal EU information, only seven member states have provided such guarantees: Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Finland, the Netherlands, and Latvia," the publication says.
"Seven other EU countries refuse to sign bilateral agreements with Ukraine on security commitments: Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria, Cyprus and the neutral states of Ireland, Austria and Malta. Switzerland and Turkey, which are not members of the EU, also do not want to agree on a security agreement with Kyiv," the newspaper writes.
At the EU summit in late June 2023, 27 member states agreed to assume "future security commitments" to Ukraine. "During the negotiations in recent months, three neutral states insisted that the EU, unlike individual member states, should not provide security guarantees, but only assume security commitments. From the point of view of these countries, commitments are less binding than guarantees," the newspaper points out.
