EU leaders seek deal to fund Ukraine without giving Hungary veto power

EU, 오늘 ’우크라 지원안’ 담판 회의장 밖에선 ’트랙터 시위’ The leaders of the EU member states are holding a high-stakes meeting this Thursday. Pressing matters on the agenda include bringing Hungary on board to unlock funding for Ukraine, as well as addressing the demands of farmers who are protesting across the EU. Lee Eun-jin reports. On Thursday, leaders of the 27 member states of the European Union will meet in Brussels for a discussion on bringing Hungary on board to unlock around 54 billion U.S. dollars of funding for Ukraine. The EU is pushing for a more stable financing plan for Ukraine through to 2027, moving away from the complex, costly, and less predictable financing system that has been used. The EU has been helping Ukraine since Moscow invaded in 2022, but so far it has been through intergovernmental deals that require national approvals every year and are more costly and complex than funding through the EU budget. Using an EU budget calls for a unanimous vote from the 27 member states, but due to close ties with Moscow, Hungary has continued to delay agreements within the EU bloc. Hungary wants support to be reviewed annually, which EU officials say will allow Budapest a veto each time. This has kept the other 26 EU countries and Hungary in a stand-off since December, with leaders gathering in the hope of finding a resolution. This summit may be the last opportunity to unlock funding for Ukraine, which is expected to run out of cash to run normal state functions in March. Ahead of the EU summit, farmers across the EU blocked traffic arteries across Belgium, France, and Italy on Wednesday with their tractors as they seek better prices for their produce and less bureaucracy in their work. The protests had an immediate impact. The European Commission announced plans to shield farmers from cheap exports from Ukraine during wartime and allow farmers to use some land that had been forced to lie fallow for environmental reasons. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine had used a Patriot air defense system to shoot down a Russian military transport plane last week, saying that it killed all 74 people on board, and demanded an international investigation into the incident. Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied that it downed the plane, and has demanded proof of who was on board. Lee Eunjin, Arirang News. #EU_leaders #European_Union #Ukraine_war #Hungary_veto_power #유럽연합 #우크라이나전쟁 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스 📣 Facebook : 📣 Twitter : 📣 Homepage : 2024-02-01, 12:00 (KST)