Council of Europe's Action Plan for Ukraine, assistance from European Parliament and Commission: today's highlights

Record-breaking Action Plan for Ukraine worth 50 million euros

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has adopted a record Action Plan for Ukraine for 2023-2026 worth 50 million euros. This was reported in the CoE.

The Head of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, said that the new Action Plan “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” was developed in close consultation with the Ukrainian authorities. It aims to increase the resilience of Ukraine's state institutions by strengthening democratic governance and the rule of law, as well as the protection of human rights.

The Action Plan also aims to support the reform agenda following the European Council's decision to grant Ukraine EU candidate status.

European Parliament approves €18 billion aid to Ukraine in 2023

The European Parliament has agreed on a legislative package that will allocate €18 billion to help Ukraine in 2023. This is stated in a statement by the European Parliament.

Thus, the EP adopted under the urgent procedure the amendment to the macro-financial assistance regulation proposed by the EU Council. This will allow 26 EU member states to act as guarantors of loans for Ukraine.

European Commission disbursed another €500 million of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine

The European Commission has disbursed an additional €500 million to Ukraine. This is the third and last tranche of emergency macro-financial assistance from the €5 billion package approved in June. This was reported in the EC.

The €5 billion package became the eighth EU macro-financial assistance program for Ukraine. These funds were provided to Ukraine in the form of special concessional loans. The terms of their repayment are longer than those of conventional macro-financial assistance packages. In addition, the EU budget will cover the interest on these loans as a sign of solidarity with Ukraine.

The loan funds of the IFD are used to finance the most urgent expenditures of the State Budget and to maintain financial stability in Ukraine.

Another exchange of prisoners

Ukraine conducted another exchange of prisoners, within which 64 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine returned home. It was announced by the Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak.

According to him, the warriors who fought in the Donetsk and Luhansk directions, in particular, participated in the defense of Bakhmut, have returned home. These are officers, privates, and sergeants.

Furthermore, a U.S. citizen, Murekezi Suedi, who helped Ukrainians was also liberated. The bodies of four dead were also returned.

Special services searched buildings of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in nine regions

Today, December 14, employees of the Security Service of Ukraine searched the buildings of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in Zakarpattia, Chernivtsi, Rivne, Volyn, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Lviv, Zhytomyr and Kherson Oblasts. This was reported by the press service of the Security Service of Ukraine.