European Council president believes in success of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to EU

President of the European Council Charles Michel said this at a briefing in Kyiv, Ukrinform reports.

“The European Council meeting in December will be difficult because we have very difficult issues on the agenda. The first one is the important MFF review, and this debate is partially linked with Ukraine because it is in this framework that we will discuss and I hope will decide to mobilize an additional package of 50 billion euros of financial assistance for Ukraine in the four years to come,” Michel said.

The European Parliament president believes that it will be a difficult debate not only because of the issue of Ukraine but “because usually in Europe, it's always difficult to find a compromise, to make decisions when you are talking about the financial solidarity, which is normal”.

Michel explained that for some countries this is important not to increase too much their national contributions. “Each government is under pressure because of the difficult situation, and for some countries, this is important to see how we can reallocate certain European funds to match with the priorities for the years to come," he said.

“There’s an enlargement process. Let’s have a look at what we have achieved first. We have granted important, fundamental decision to grant the candidate status to Ukraine. And if you remember a few weeks, maybe even a few days before we made this decision in the European Council, they were huge doubts on the possibility to make a decision in unanimity on such topic. We made it,” Michel stressed. 

“I’m absolutely convinced we must make a positive decision. It will show that we are serious, that we are reliable, that you can count on us not only in words but also in actions. It sends an important message to the public opinion within the EU. It means that we are taking care of our common future because the investment is in prosperity and security, in our common future. And it also sends an important message to the Kremlin that we are not intimidated and we will not allow you to put at risk the security of the European continent in the future,” the European Council president said.

At the same time, Michel acknowledged that a decision would require serious political negotiations, but "Ukrainians can count on me, and not only on me, but also on many European leaders."

As reported, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said this month that the European Union should not start membership talks with Ukraine.

He added that the dispute between the EU and Hungary over billions of euros of funds from Brussels frozen for Budapest due to problems with the rule of law cannot be in any way linked to Hungary's support for Ukraine's accession negotiations.

According to Bloomberg, EU countries are considering a backup plan to push through much-needed aid for Ukraine in its fight to repel Russia if Hungary vetoes the current EUR 50 billion package.