The president of the EU commission, Jose Manuel Barroso announces massive resource package for Kiev”of at least 11 billion euros in two years“. "It is a package - he explains - designed to assist a solid and participatory Ukrainian government oriented towards reforms". Barroso explains that he will discuss the terms of financial assistance tomorrow in Brussels with the Ukrainian prime minister, who will attend an extraordinary summit of 28 European leaders, convened precisely to respond to the military crisis in Crimea.
According to Barroso, the European Union's priority is to seek a peaceful solution to the crisis which "must include the withdrawal of the Russian armed forces, which must settle in the areas of their permanent stationing". Barroso appreciates the re-establishment of a dialogue between Moscow and Kiev and hopes that both sides agree to send international observers to Crimea. "At the same time - says Barroso - the international community must mobilize to help the financial and economic stabilization of Ukraine, which will contribute to political and social reconciliation".
Barroso specifies that the European aid package consists of immediate short-term measures, commercial, economic, technical and financial assistance. More specifically, €6,1 billion will consist of macro-financial assistance loans, €1,4 billion will be grants, of which €600 million can be disbursed over the next two years. Another 3 billion euros will come from the EIB for 2014-16 and from a fund in which bilateral loans will converge. Furthermore, the EBRD, of which the European Union is the largest shareholder, will have to find another 5 billion euros.
