The European Commission has reviewed the draft EU budget for the 2024-2027 period and asked member states to increase it by 66 billion euros ($72 billion), mostly to fund assistance for Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.
"We are asking our 27 member states to equip us with 66 billion euro to deliver on these three priorities I have just described: Ukraine, migration and competitiveness," von der Leyen told a press conference.
Out of the 66 billion euros, 50 billion euros is earmarked for loans and grants for Ukraine, 15 billion euros for migrant and refugee programs, and 1 billion euros for improving the EU's competitiveness, von der Leyen added.
Csaba Domotor, the secretary of state in the office of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said Tuesday that the EU had no finances because of the aid to Ukraine, adding that Budapest has not received "a penny" of money from EU funds due to Hungary while the bloc is proposing another 50 billion euros in aid to Kiev.
"The EU is asking for money from member states. That is, because of the financing of the war and Ukraine, the EU's coffers have emptied, so several tens of billions must be added to the budget... The largest part will go to further finance Ukraine. It will be 50 billion euros," Domotor said in a video message on social media.
He recalled that the changes in the EU budget must be approved by a unanimous decision of all member states.
"Therefore, the discussion will be interesting and strange. Because while we are expected to make additional payments, we have not yet received a penny of the EU funds due to us. But they are in the budget and are specified in the agreements. And yet we have not received anything," the official said, adding that "it would be good to have an answer to this controversial issue" when the proposal to the member states to pay more money to the EU budget is put on paper.
In 2020, the EU adopted a 1.1 trillion euro budget for the period of 2021-2027. Additionally, the bloc approved a 750-million-euro rescue fund aimed at helping EU member states mitigate the economic effects of COVID-19 restriction measures.