Brussels demands 50 billion euros from European Union member states

“We are in a completely different world than 2020.” The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, asked the Member States, on Tuesday June 20, to extend by 50 billion euros the multi-annual budget of the EU, negotiated in 2020, in order to help the Ukraine until 2027. To be effective, this extension to the 2021-2027 budget will have to be approved unanimously by the Twenty-Seven and receive the approval of the European Parliament.

“We are proposing a financial reserve for the next four years of 50 billion euros. This includes both loans and grants”, said Ursula von der Leyen, during a press briefing. This reserve will make it possible to give a “perspective” to Ukrainians and “will allow us to really calibrate our financial support according to the evolution of the situation on the ground, because we all know that a war requires of us the greatest flexibility”advances the president of the European executive.

During her speech, Ursula von der Leyen also proposed an increase in the European Union budget of 15 billion euros for the management of migration. These funds will be intended to help Member States to “strengthen control of our external border” and cooperation with third countries, she explained. An additional ten billion euros have also been requested by the President of the Commission to strengthen “resilience and competitiveness” of the European economy.