The European Commission today adopted the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP) to urgently deliver ammunition and missiles to Ukraine and to help Member States refill their stocks. 

Together with this regulation, the European Commission proposes to allocate a budget of €500 million in current prices to strengthen the EU’s production capacity in ammunition, missiles and their components. 

“This will help supply more ammunition for Ukraine to defend its citizens and it will also strengthen our European defence capabilities,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. “Together with the Member States, we will mobilise a further €1 billion to ramp up capacities across Europe. This is a critical part of Europe‘s strategic capacity to defend its interests and values, and help maintain peace on our continent.”

On 20 March, the European Council agreed on a three-track approach calling Member States to jointly procure ammunition and, if requested, missiles, to refill their stocks while enabling the continuation of support to Ukraine. 

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Today the European Union is providing another €1.5 billion to Ukraine under its annual macro-financial assistance package. 

The European Commission made today a third payment of €1.5 billion under the Macro-financial Assistance (MFA)+ package for Ukraine, worth up to €18 billion. 

This support will help Ukraine cover its immediate financial needs: to continue paying salaries and pensions and to maintain basic public services such as hospitals, schools and housing for the displaced. It will also allow Ukraine to ensure macroeconomic stability and restore critical infrastructure destroyed by Russia in its war of aggression, such as energy infrastructure, water systems, transport networks, roads and bridges.

Today’s payment comes after the Commission found that Ukraine continued to make satisfactory progress to strengthen the rule of law, enhance financial stability, improve the functioning of the gas system and promote a better business climate. 

This finding will also enable the disbursement of two further monthly payments of €1.5 billion each in May and June.

Overall, since the start of the war, the support to Ukraine and Ukrainians amounts to around €68 billion. 

“We will continue helping Ukraine resist Russia’s aggression, keep its institutions and infrastructure running, and conduct crucial reforms,” President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.

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The EU will be ready to provide financial support for the Black Sea Energy submarine cable project, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on 17 December, attending the signing in the Romanian capital Bucharest of a memorandum of understanding between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Hungary and Romania, which envisages the laying of an underwater electricity cable across the Black Sea. 

Ursula von der Leyen said the agreement would bring the European Union closer to its partners in the South Caucasus region, and would help both regions achieve the clean energy transition. “Since the beginning of Russia’s war, we have decided to turn our back on Russian fossil fuels and to diversify towards reliable energy partners, like the partners here around the table. And it is working,” said the European Commission President.

She added the initiative would reinforce energy security in Europe and bring new opportunities to Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine: “This project could bring Georgia, a country with a European destiny, great benefits as well. It could transform the country into an electricity hub and integrate it in the EU internal electricity market. Finally, the Black Sea electric cable could also help bring electricity to our neighbours in Moldova and the Western Balkans, and of course to Ukraine – it will help start rebuilding Ukraine’s energy system and the reconstruction of the country.”

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Georgia’s strategic geographic location makes us a natural bridge between the West and the East, serving as a gateway for eight landlocked countries of South Caucasus and Central Asia; a crucial link on EU’s Global Connectivity map and a game changer, when it comes to diversification of transport routes and energy supply to Europe. It was announced by Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia at the Plenary Session on Strategic Partnership for Green Energy Development and Transmission held in Romania today.

On 26 November, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the European Commission would pay for the transportation of 40,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain on two ships, as part of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s ‘Grain from Ukraine’ initiative.

This will be on top of the 28 million tons of agri products shipped via the EU’s Solidarity Lanes and the Black Sea Grain Initiative, von der Leyen added.

Ukraine launched the ‘Grain from Ukraine’ initiative at the International Summit on Food Security, organised in Kyiv on the anniversary of the Holodomor, the starvation of millions of Ukrainians caused by Soviet policies in 1932-33.

“90 years after the Holodomor, we honour the memory of Ukraine’s victims. They died in silence, starving to death, and, at that time, the world did not rise to help them. We will not let this happen again,” said von der Leyen. “Today, Russia is again using food as a weapon.

As part of its brutal aggression against Ukraine, Russia has destroyed your agricultural production, targeted your grain silos, and blockaded your ports.”

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Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili met with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, on the margins of the first summit of the European Political Community, in Prague.

The Council of the European Union today formally decided to provide €5 billion of additional macro-financial assistance (MFA) to Ukraine as a matter of urgency.

On 9 September, at an informal meeting of the Ecofin Council in Prague, EU finance ministers agreed to provide an additional €5 billion in assistance for Ukraine. This additional aid was officially approved today after the necessary formal steps were completed in just 11 days.

This financial assistance complements other EU support to Ukraine in the humanitarian, development, customs and defence fields.

This €5 billion macro-financial assistance will be provided to Ukraine in the form of highly concessional long-term loans. It constitutes the second stage in the implementation of the EU’s planned exceptional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine of up to €9 billion, announced by the European Commission this May.

The EU says a decision on the implementation of the third phase of the Union’s exceptional macro-financial assistance of up to €3 billion will be taken shortly, once the structure of this assistance has been determined.

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The European Commission has welcomed the decision by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to call on the Russian Federation to immediately cease its infractions of international aviation rules, in order to preserve the safety and security of civil aviation. 

The ICAO decision refers to the violation of Ukraine’s sovereign airspace in the context of Russia’s war of aggression, and to the deliberate and continued violation of several safety requirements in an attempt by the Russian government to circumvent EU sanctions. These actions include illegally double-registering in Russia aircraft stolen from leasing companies, and permitting Russian airlines to operate these aircraft on international routes without a valid Certificate of Airworthiness, which is the necessary safety certificate.

Adina Vălean, European Commissioner responsible for Transport, said: “It is of utmost importance for all countries to defend the international aviation rules-based system, for the safety of passengers and crew. Russia continues to disrespect the fundamental rules of international aviation and to instruct its airlines to work against these rules. I welcome the ICAO Council’s clear condemnation, which reflects the gravity of the actions undertaken by Russia.”

ICAO yesterday informed its 193 Member States about Russia’s blatant non-respect of crucial international aviation law and will bring the issue to its next general Assembly, taking place from 27 September to 7 October 2022.

The European Commission today adopted a proposal for a new package of measures to maintain and strengthen the effectiveness of the EU’s six wide-ranging and unprecedented packages of sanctions against Russia.

Today’s “maintenance and alignment” package clarifies a number of provisions to strengthen legal certainty for operators and enforcement by Member States. It also further aligns the EU’s sanctions with those of its allies and partners, in particular in the G7. Importantly, the package reiterates the Commission’s determined stance to protect food security around the globe. The measures also include a ban on the import of Russian gold.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said: “Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine continues unabated. Therefore, we are proposing today to tighten our hard-hitting EU sanctions against the Kremlin, enforce them more effectively and extend them until January 2023. Moscow must continue to pay a high price for its aggression.”

EU High Representative Josep Borrell added: “Today’s package reflects our coordinated approach with international partners including the G7. In addition to these measures, I will also present proposals to Council for the listing of more individuals and entities, with their assets frozen and ability to travel curtailed.”

Today’s package will introduce a new import ban on Russian gold, while reinforcing dual use and advanced technology export controls. In doing so, it will reinforce the alignment of EU sanctions with those of the G7 partners. It will also strengthen reporting requirements to tighten EU asset freezes.

The package also reiterates that EU sanctions do not target in any way the trade in agricultural products between third countries and Russia. Likewise, the text clarifies the exact scope of some financial and economic sanctions.  

Finally, it is proposed to extend the current EU sanctions for six months, until the next review at the end of January 2023.

The package will now be discussed by Member States in the Council in view of its adoption.

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On 4 and 5 July, the Swiss city of Lugano is hosting a two-day conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmigal, speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, a number of Ukrainian ministers and MPs, high officials from the EU and international financial institutions arrived in Lugano. The President of Ukraine participated in the conference online.

“The Russian bombs are still falling, but we know nothing is impossible to the people of Ukraine,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her speech. She noted that the Commission has already proposed  to set up a reconstruction platform to map investment needs, to coordinate action, and to channel resources to the Ukrainian Government.

“This platform will be the place to shape strategic orientations and priorities for our common work. The focus is on future-proof reconstruction moving towards climate neutrality, embracing the digital decade, building a social market economy – leaving no one behind, ensuring security and defense, all of it embedded in good governance,” said Ursula von der Leyen.

She added that together with German Chancellor Scholz, and in cooperation with the international partners, the EU will organise a high-level international conference after summer ends. 

“We want to bring together the brightest minds and leading global experts on reconstruction to ensure that this generational undertaking is done in the right way. This will give additional confidence to all investors: Your money not only serves a good cause, it will be, first and foremost, spent efficiently and effectively, with maximum impact for the people of Ukraine,” mentioned von der Leyen.

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