Dispute in the EU over billions for Ukraine: Germany offers a new aid model, Poland demands compensation

The European Union has been discussing the further use of the European Peace Fund funds after the unblocking of funding, which was blocked by Hungary for a long time. The main subject of the dispute was the question of whether to direct the available billions of euros directly to new military support for Ukraine, or first of all to compensate the costs of countries that have already transferred weapons to Kyiv.

According to European media, about 6.6 billion euros are currently available in the fund’s accounts. Germany supports the initiative, according to which the majority of these funds should be directed to the training of the Ukrainian military, joint procurement of weapons and strengthening Ukraine’s defense capabilities.

At the same time, Poland categorically insists on a different approach. Warsaw believes that the countries that were among the first to start supplying weapons to Ukraine after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion should receive full reimbursement for their costs.

According to representatives of the Polish government, Poland has already transferred hundreds of millions of euros in military aid to Ukraine and expects to be compensated in full. Warsaw emphasizes that it is unfair to reduce payments to states that bore the main burden of supporting Kyiv during the most difficult period of the war.

The discussion became possible after Hungary lifted its long-standing veto on payments from the European Peace Fund. This allowed the restoration of the compensation mechanism and opened the way for the distribution of billions of euros intended to support Ukraine and EU member states.

Despite internal disputes over the mechanism for distributing funds, the European Union confirms its unwavering support for Ukraine. The European Commission has already laid out further funding for Ukrainian programs in the draft EU budget for 2027.

In parallel, Ukraine and NATO continue to coordinate defense assistance. Key areas of cooperation remain the strengthening of air defense systems, the supply of ammunition, missile systems, and financing the production of Ukrainian drones.

Thus, despite discussions within the EU on the distribution of funds, European partners demonstrate their readiness to continue long-term military and financial support for Ukraine.