At the summit on Thursday, EU leaders overcame all obstacles and agreed to disburse €18 billion of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine in 2023.
It was adopted as part of four economic-financial packages that also included two packages for Hungary and a corporate tax rate plan for large multinationals, Politico reported.
The European Commission on November 9 proposed an unprecedented support package for Ukraine of up to €18 billion for 2023. This assistance will be provided in the form of concessional loans to be disbursed in regular instalments starting in January 2023.
However, due to Hungary’s veto, the proposal had to be amended.
Eventually Hungary bargained with Brussels to unblock part of the funds blocked due to problems with the rule of law and lifted its veto on Monday.
However, Warsaw expressed last-minute reservations Monday at a meeting of EU ambassadors. Poland refused to support the €18 billion package deal for Ukraine as well as two decisions on Hungary over concerns about a separate plan for a minimum corporate tax rate.
Poland had been seeking to split the “package” of files, adopting the badly needed aid for Ukraine, while leaving the minimum tax for another day. However, other EU leaders didn’t agree, forcing Poland to drop the veto, according to Politico.
