All 27 leaders of the European Union agreed to give Ukraine a €50 billion aid package after Hungary had initially stopped the agreement.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, is happy about the new money. He thinks it will make the country stronger financially.
Ukraine’s economy ministry said it thinks it will get the first part of the money in March.
People were worried that the Prime Minister of Hungary would once again stop the deal, like he did at a meeting in Europe last December. Viktor Orban, who is a close friend of the Russian president Vladimir Putin in the European Union, said he wants to make the EU change its policy towards Ukraine. He also questioned the idea of giving money to Kyiv for the next four years.
The package will give money to cover pensions, salaries, and other expenses for the next four years. The US Congress is delaying military help for Ukraine.
They announced the agreement shortly after the meeting started. This surprised many people because they thought the discussions would take a long time, as Mr. Orban and the other EU leaders had very different opinions.
A source who works in diplomacy told Reuters that the new agreement includes talking about it every year and checking it again in two years, if necessary.
Mr Orban wanted to vote on the package every year. But this could have allowed Hungary to stop the deal every year.
“A good day for Europe,” said Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, on X.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the leaders of the European Union. He mentioned that the decision was made by all 27 leaders. He also said that the package would help make Ukraine’s economy and money more stable for a long time.
The money was really important for Ukraine’s finances, and it also needs Europe to keep supporting it.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Europe needs to invest in its own security. He said that Ukraine is standing up to Russia for everyone – stopping Vladimir Putin from trying to change the world by using force.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk didn’t like how Mr. Orban was acting, and said on X that maybe Viktor Orban could be convinced to change his mind. “Let’s”