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• WHO, EU and US donate ambulances to Ukraine to cover health needs during the war

  The WHO Country Office in Ukraine, with support from the European Union and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has donated an additional 33 ambulances to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to enable the provision of emergency medical care to patients during the war. The handover of ambulances took place in Lviv, western Ukraine, on 27 March.

  The donation includes 20 ambulances equipped with a stretcher and first aid equipment. They are intended for the non-critical transportation of patients. Another 13 ambulances, equipped with patient ventilators, oxygen supply, IV pumps, suction pumps, stretchers, medication bags, will allow for the transportation of seriously injured patients to health facilities.

  The ambulances will be handed over to hospitals and emergency centres throughout the country, with a particular focus on eastern Ukraine.

  “It is one of our top priorities to support the Ukrainian healthcare system, which has come under extreme pressure since the start of the war,” said Janez Lenarčič, European Commissioner for Crisis Management. “We are working with partners like WHO to ensure that medical professionals have the means and equipment to reach people in urgent need of medical assistance. These ambulances will save lives across the country, including in hard-to-reach areas.”

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  Press release

• European Peace Facility: Council increases the financial ceiling to nearly €7.98 billion until 2027

  The Council adopted a decision increasing the financial ceiling of the European Peace Facility (EPF) to €7.979 billion (in current prices) until 2027, ensuring that additional financial needs can be covered. 

  The European Peace Facility has now become an integral part of the EU’s support to promote peace and security globally. Today’s decision brings the financial ceiling of the European Peace Facility to over €7.9 billion. Ensuring the financial sustainability of this instrument is crucial for our support not only to Ukraine, but also for our partners in other parts of Europe, Africa and the Middle East, as needs continue to arise.

  This decision implements the political agreement reached on 12 December 2022, when the Council decided to increase the overall EPF financial ceiling by €2 billion (in 2018 prices) in 2023, and allow for the possibility of a further increase at a later stage (up to €5.5 billion in 2018 prices until 2027).

  The Council also decided to set a financial reference amount for the common costs of the EU Crisis Management Military Exercise 2023 (MILEX 23) at €5 million and introduce more flexibility in the collection and use of financial contributions from member states and in their use by the facility.

  In its conclusions of 15 December 2022, the European Council reiterated the global dimension of the Facility and welcomed the agreement in the Council on 12 December 2022 to ensure its financial sustainability.

  Background and next steps

  The European Peace Facility was established in March 2021 to finance all common foreign and security policy (CFSP) actions relating to military and defence matters, with the aim of preventing conflict, preserving peace, and strengthening international security and stability. In particular, the European Peace Facility allows the EU to finance actions designed to strengthen the capacities of non-EU countries and regional and international organisations in relation to military and defence matters.

  The EPF is an off-budget instrument and originally had an overall financial ceiling of €5 billion in 2018 prices for the period 2021-2027, with annual ceilings that ranged from €420 million in 2021 to €1.132 billion in 2027.

  Thanks to the EPF, the EU has been supporting the Ukrainian Armed Forces through seven successive support packages so far, as well as many other countries such as: Mozambique, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, the Republic of Mali, Somalia, Niger, Jordan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lebanon and Mauritania, as well as military components of African-led Peace Support Operations and multinational units such as the Balkan Medical Task Force.

  • European Peace Facility: Council agrees €2 billion increase of the financial ceiling in 2023 (press release, 12 December 2022)
  • European Peace Facility (background information)

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• European Commission proposes tenth package of sanctions against Russia and Iranian drone suppliers

  The European Commission is proposing a tenth package of sanctions against Russia to further weaken Russia’s ability to maintain its war machine, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament Plenary in Strasbourg today.

  The suggested package contains trade bans and controls on technology exports worth €11 billion.

  The Commission proposes, among other things, export restrictions on multiple electronic components used in Russian armed systems, such as drones, missiles, and helicopters. 

  The Commission is also proposing – for the first time – to sanction Iranian entities including those linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, producing drones.

  Ursula von der Leyen said there were hundreds of Iranian-made drones used by Russia on the battlefields in Ukraine. “These Iranian made drones kill Ukrainian civilians – this is atrocious!” said the European Commission President. “It is our duty to sanction them, and confront Iran about the supply of drones and the transfer of know-how to build production sites in Russia.”

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  Press release

• Two Georgia v. Russia interstate cases: Committee of Ministers says Russia must execute the European Court’s judgments, despite its exclusion from the Council of Europe

  Strasbourg, 09.12.2022 – The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has deeply deplored again the absence of response of the Russian authorities to its earlier appeals to implement the Georgia v. Russia (I) judgment from the European Court of Human Rights concerning the arrest, detention and collective expulsion of Georgian nationals in 2006-2007, and strongly exhorted the Russian authorities to pay the long-overdue just satisfaction. The Committee has also urged the Russian authorities to start executing the judgment in the case Georgia v. Russia (II) related to the armed conflict in Georgia in 2008.

  In the Interim Resolution (*) published today on the Georgia v. Russia (I) case the Committee of Ministers recalled that, despite ceasing to be a member of the Council of Europe on 16 March 2022, the Russian Federation is still required to implement judgments of the European Court, and the Committee of Ministers continues to supervise their execution.

  According to the European Court’s judgment of January 2019, Russia inter alia had to pay to the Georgian government 10 million euros in respect of non-pecuniary damage suffered by a group of at least 1,500 Georgian nationals. The Committee deeply deplored the continued absence of the information from the Russian authorities and reiterated again its most profound concern that the payment of the just satisfaction and default interest accrued has not been made despite the passage of over three years since the deadline for payment expired on 30 April 2019.

  The Secretariat of the Committee of Ministers will create and publish a register of just satisfaction owing in all inter-state cases against the Russian Federation and will keep it regularly updated as regards the default interest accrued so that both the issue and the sums due can remain under close public scrutiny.

  The Committee of Ministers has also adopted the Interim Resolution on the second interstate case, Georgia v. Russia (II). The European Court’s judgment on this case has become final in October 2021 and concerned various violations in the context of the armed conflict between Georgia and the Russian Federation in August 2008.

  The Committee has urged again the Russian authorities to submit to the Committee of Ministers a plan on the execution of this judgment and to investigate the serious crimes committed during the active phase of hostilities as well as during the period of occupation. It has firmly reiterated again its profound concern about the inability of Georgian nationals to return to their homes in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and its insistence that the Russian Federation, which has effective control over these regions, ensure without delay safe return of persons wishing to return to their homes. The question of just satisfaction in this case remains pending at the Court.

  The Committee of Ministers will restart the examination of the execution of both cases in March 2023.  

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  (*) An Interim Resolution is a form of decision adopted by the Committee of Ministers aimed at overcoming more complex situations requiring special attention.

• German Government allocates 55 million EUR to support the rehabilitation of a drinking water treatment plant in Batumi

  On 7^th of December 2022 KfW Development Bank, on behalf of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, signs financing agreements of a total of 55 million EUR with the Government of Georgia, represented by the Ministry of Finance of Georgia for the fifth phase of the Municipal Infrastructure Batumi project.

  For more than 16 years the project with a financing volume of around 138 million EUR was implemented for the creation of a modern water infrastructure in Batumi.

  As a result, more than 200,000 people who previously had access to drinking water only for a couple of hours a day, are now continuously supplied with hygienically safe drinking water. Additionally, with the construction of a modern sewer system and wastewater treatment plant, wastewater is now professionally drained and cleaned. A new stormwater system and new stormwater pumping station have furthermore significantly reduced the risk of flooding the city center. Even dolphins have been seen from the beach again, which speaks for the improvement of see water quality.

  The newly signed financing agreements will ensure that the improved supply of drinking water can be extended for the growing population of Batumi. An old drinking water treatment plant will be rehabilitated and adapted to the modern standards and the wastewater treatment plant will be expanded and equipped with sludge treatment and nutrient elimination systems.

  The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany supports the project through KfW with a 53 million EUR loan and 2 million EUR grant for accompanying measures to support the municipal water supply company “Batumis Tskali”.