BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) – Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has rejected joint EU debt for the financing of grants to Ukraine. A procedure like the Corona development fund is out of the question for Germany, said Lindner after a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels on Tuesday. However, he was open to facilitating loans to Ukraine by taking on debt. Ukraine would not have to repay grants, but it would have to pay back loans.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said after the meeting that EU countries generally agreed on the need to support Ukraine. However, technical details of the aid would still have to be clarified.
In order to help Ukraine in the short term, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had proposed providing Ukraine with new macro-financial assistance of nine billion euros to cover running costs. According to Economics Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, this should consist primarily of loans and, in part, grants. The Commission will make a more concrete proposal on this in June.
At the same time, the EU Commission wants to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine in the long term through grants or loans. For the financing, the inclusion of common debts was also brought into play, which the Commission could take on behalf of the member states – as with the Corona development fund. The EU Commission is also considering using frozen funds from Russia. She wants to present a proposal for this on Wednesday.
Lindner said Germany is open to a debate about using confiscated Russian state assets to rebuild Ukraine. But you have to distinguish between state funds – such as the central bank – and private funds. “In our constitution there are guarantees for private assets,” said Lindner./dub/DP/he