Poland opposes using EU funds for Ukraine, seeks own reimbursement

MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/. Poland has opposed the proposal to hand over to Ukraine funds from the 6.6-billion euro European Peace Facility, wholly or in part, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said.

"This money is our money," Tomczyk said during a broadcast of the RMF FM radio. In his words, Warsaw will fight till the bitter end to receive the 500 million euro from this fund, which his country is entitled to.

He also accused Brussels of "trying to change the rules during the game."

According to the broadcast, Poland is supported by Slovakia.

"Countries that were the first to start supplying weapons [to Ukraine], such as Poland or Slovakia, whose aid has already been counted and whose compensations are ready to be paid, are not willing to agree to reduced payments. The countries that started providing support later, such as Germany, want the opposite," an unnamed diplomatic source told RMF FM.

The European Peace Facility was established in 2021 to finance the European Union's defense and security efforts, including peacekeeping operations. However, after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, it began to be used to offset the costs of EU countries for the supply of weapons to the Ukrainian army.

On June 8, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas confirmed that Hungary had agreed to its veto on the blockage of €6.6 billion. She proposed to use these funds to reimburse the member states for the past weapons deliveries, to finance new joint procurements, and to sustain operations in the EUMAM Ukraine mission.