EP President Metsola at EUCO: We owed the Ukraine deal to the people of Ukraine
EuroparlFeb 01
EU Approves €50B Ukraine Aid Package
The Facts
All 27 EU countries approved on Thursday a new €50B ($54B) aid package to Ukraine that will run through 2027 as part of its seven-year budget review after Hungary's Viktor Orbán dropped his veto blocking funds for Kyiv.
This comes as European Council Pres. Charles Michel and European Commission Pres. Ursula von der Leyen, joined by the leaders of France, Germany, and Italy, held a closed-door meeting with the Hungarian leader, which was later widened to include other leaders.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
The Ukrainian people have desperately waited for this lifeline for months, so, thankfully, every state leader within the bloc finally took a stand to offer their support. Not only does this funding help protect Ukraine, but it also helps ensure Russia can't threaten European security further to the west. As compromises were made that benefit every party involved, the EU can rest assured that it's impenetrably unified against Russian aggression.
Establishment-critical narrative
The EU's performative, albeit somewhat financially significant commitment to Kyiv will do nothing for the Ukrainian people and even less for its own citizens. For all their talk about Russia threatening to move further west than Ukraine, the EU and NATO have only seen their militaries shrink in size and funding. This war has been and will continue to be between Moscow and Kyiv — and Russia is still winning.
Nerd narrative
There's a 29% chance that Ukraine will join the EU before 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.