In mid-December, Orban vetoed an increase in the EU budget for 2024-2027, including 50 billion euros in macro-financial aid to Kiev. On December 18, European Council President Charles Michel said that a new extraordinary EU summit to discuss financial aid to Ukraine would take place in Brussels on February 1.
EU officials have since been searching for alternatives to provide Ukraine with funds, and one model funded by debt has gained traction as the most practical way to provide support in the event of the Hungarian prime minister using his veto right at a planned summit on February 1, the report said.
The scheme requires EU member states to issue guarantees to the EU budget, enabling the European Commission to borrow up to 20 billion euros on capital markets for Kiev in 2024, sources told the media, adding that discussions are still underway and the final figure would be specified based on the needs of Ukraine.
The scheme is similar to the one that was used in 2022 when the European Commission provided up to 100 billion euros in cheap financing to EU countries for short-term work support schemes during the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said.
The report also said that the scheme would not require guarantees from all member states of the bloc as long as the main participants included countries with top credit ratings, allowing the EU to sidestep unanimous backing and Orban's veto. Some member states, including Germany and the Netherlands, would require parliamentary approval for national guarantees, sources told the media, while expressing hope that this process would not take much time and aid for Ukraine would be provided by March.
15 December 2023, 17:22 GMT
Sources said one downside of the scheme is that it would be limited to loans and not include grants but would provide sufficient funding to Ukraine to avoid having to print money in Kiev and risking inflation spiraling, the report said.
Another option involves cheap loans to Ukraine for a few months and up to a year — the decision which would require a weighted majority of countries to agree, Financial Times reported, adding, however, that EU officials would prefer to approve the unaltered aid package that was vetoed by Hungary.