EU agrees €50bn support package for Ukraine

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The EU has agreed a €50bn financial support package for Ukraine within the bloc’s shared budget, after agreeing a compromise deal that saw Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán rescind his veto against the aid.

“We have a deal,” said the president of the European Council Charles Michel in a statement on X. “All 27 leaders agreed.”

“This locks in steadfast, long-term, predictable funding for Ukraine,” Michel added.

Disagreement over the package, which Kyiv has said is critical for its ongoing financial stability amid Russia’s invasion, has pushed relations between Brussels and Budapest to breaking point, and officials warned of an irreparable rupture within the bloc if the Hungarian leader had maintained his veto.

The agreement was reached at the start of an emergency EU leaders’ summit in Brussels in Thursday arranged for the other members of the bloc to pressurise Orbán into agreeing the financial support.

Confirmation of the deal followed private talks between Orbán, Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the bloc’s three most powerful leaders — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — in an effort to find a compromise.

The agreement includes a provision for EU leaders to hold an annual debate on the implementation of the aid package, and the potential for a review in two years.

“Orban came to his senses,” said one EU diplomat briefed on the negotiations.

This is a developing story