TEMA: Generation Jesus
EU parliament approves billion-euro loan for Ukraine
The European Parliament approves €60 billion to strengthen Ukraine’s defence and €30 billion for macro-financial support and budgetary assistance, to be disbursed over the next two years.
The Russian war against Ukraine has now been raging for four years. It has so far claimed many lives. Among them, over 14,000 Ukraine civilians are estimated to have lost their lives, although the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights assumes that the actual number is significantly higher.
Over the years Ukraine did receive a lot of militaries, financial, and humanitarian support from different countries. As of August 2025, the EU already sent around 96 billion euro. Besides that, the United States is the largest supporter, measured by bilateral assistance. Now the EU approved a new billion-euro loan for Ukraine
The measures package
On Wednesday the 11th of February, the European Parliament adopted a package of measures to support Ukraine, including an EU loan of €90 billion for the years 2026 and 2027. This contains €60 billion to strengthen Ukraine’s defence and €30 billion for macro-financial support and budgetary assistance, to be disbursed over the next two years. The support loan is financed through joint EU bonds on the capital markets and secured by the “headroom” of the long-term EU budget.
Karin Karlsbro, Member of the Renew Europe Group, a pro-European political group in the European Parliament spoke before the vote, “This package of 90 billion euros is not only support to Ukraine, it's an investment in our common European future!” She continues, “Today Ukraine is our frontline. Ukrainians defend our freedom. We have to show them the same commitment!”
After hard weeks of discussion about the terms and conditions for the loan, the vote results now showed a clear preference. With a majority of 458 votes, Parliament agreed to the disbursement of the loan. For the first funds to be paid out, only the Council of the Member States now needs to give its approval. However, this is considered a mere formality, as the governments have already agreed on the terms of the loan. There were also 140 votes against and 44 abstentions.
As a compromise, the member states agreed to link the so-called Buy European clause for the loan. This means that Ukraine may use the funds to purchase defence equipment in countries such as the United States. But only if these items are either not available on the European internal market and in Ukraine, or not available in a timely manner. This would mean, for example, that the money could also be used for U.S. Patriot air defence missile systems, which are currently considered indispensable for air defence.
