At the EU ministerial meeting on April 21, diplomats do not expect a breakthrough on “Ukrainian” issues
18 April 17:19
EU foreign ministers will convene for their regular meeting in Luxembourg on April 21. As EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas previously stated, the agenda will include discussions on a 90-billion-euro loan for Ukraine and the 20th package of sanctions against Russia, which, in her words, “it is high time to unblock.” At the same time, diplomats believe that these matters should be discussed once the new government is fully in power.
EU diplomats told Suspilne about this, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
“This is still the current government, so I don’t expect any major changes to be announced, but we are hopeful. We need to unblock several issues regarding our support for Ukraine. And the most important one right now is the 90 billion,” the diplomats note.
According to them, a European Commission team is currently in Budapest, which is an unprecedented move. According to Suspilne, the team includes the head of the European Commission President’s Office and several directors-general. They plan to discuss these issues with representatives of Hungary’s future government.
Two diplomats speculated that Hungary’s current Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó would not attend the EU ministers’ meeting, with one adding: “I would be very surprised if he showed up.” At the same time, according to officials, during the meeting, Kallas will raise the recent scandals related to the leak of information from Budapest to Moscow.
“I expect her to reaffirm at this ministerial level the importance of confidentiality and what we call the principle of sincere cooperation as the foundation of how we conduct business in the EU and work as a community,” European diplomats added.
As a reminder, on April 16, amid another massive Russian attack on Ukraine, the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, stated that next week the EU Foreign Affairs Council will consider unblocking a €90 billion loan and the 20th package of anti-Russian sanctions.
