Path to EU and EUR 50B: Shmyhal announces meeting with Slovak PM

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said that he is planning to meet with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in the coming weeks to remove possible obstacles on the path to the implementation of the Ukraine Facility program.

Shmyhal announced this on the Telegram messaging app, Ukrinform reports.

He recalled that the Ukraine Facility program envisages not only the allocation of financial support worth EUR 50 billion, but also the systemic transformation of Ukraine on its path to the EU.

"Our government has created a draft plan and vision of this process. We have received comments from the European Commission, which we are already processing. In the coming weeks, we are also planning a meeting with the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, to discuss all urgent issues and remove possible obstacles on the way to the implementation of the Ukraine Facility," Shmyhal said.

He added that Ukraine was counting on the adoption at the European Council summit on February 1 of a positive decision on the disbursement of EUR 50 billion in financial support to Kyiv as part of the Ukraine Facility program.

Earlier reports said that Fico had supported the position of his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban regarding the need to rework the European Union's EUR 50 billion financial aid plan for Ukraine. In particular, he supported the recommendation to divide the funding into four tranches that could be changed and blocked each time.

The EU summit to approve amendments to the multi-year budget for 2024-2027, which include the creation of a EUR 50 billion Ukraine Facility, will take place on February 1.

During the European Council on December 14-15, the leaders of the European countries could not decide on the adoption of amendments to the EU's multi-year budget for 2024-2027. The decision was blocked by Hungary.