The head of the EU Foreign Policy Service, Josep Borrel, previously noted that there is a possibility of an additional increase in the fund's budget by another €3.5 billion by the end of the year.BRUSSELS, March 17.
/tass/. EU defense ministers are due to approve on March 21 at a meeting in Brussels the plan of the head of the EU Foreign Policy Service, Josep Borrel, to allocate €2 billion from the European Peace Fund for the supply of shells to Ukraine and replenishment of their stocks in Europe. This was reported to journalists on Friday by a source in the EU foreign policy service.
"The defense ministers will consider a three-stage plan: to use €1 billion for the supply of both Soviet and Western-style ammunition for Ukraine from existing stocks, to allocate another €1 billion to ensure urgent purchases of new ammunition that will go to Kiev and to replenish stocks in Europe, and to begin expanding production. That is, we expect to get the green light for the allocation of €2 billion next week," the source said, stressing that at the moment this plan is undergoing preliminary approval by the ambassadors of the 27 EU countries in Brussels.
Last week, the EU Council approved a decision to urgently increase the budget of the European Peace Fund by €2 billion. Earlier, Borrel noted that there is a possibility of an additional increase in the fund's budget by another €3.5 billion by the end of the year. Initially, the entire budget of the fund is €5.7 billion for the period from 2021 to 2027, that is, we are talking about its actual doubling. Last year, the European Union allocated €3.2 billion from this fund for the supply of weapons to Ukraine.
Money from this fund is allocated to EU countries as compensation for weapons that they transfer to Ukraine. From this fund, according to Borrel, Brussels compensates 40% of the cost of arms and ammunition transferred to Kiev.
