EuroNews (English)

State of the Union: War economy and humanitari­an aid

- Isabel Marques da Silva

In addition to human suffering, which can never be counted, war is, in fact, also a question of financial capacity.

Since the start of Russia's fullscale invasion a little over two years ago, the EU and its member states have supported Ukraine with almost €88 billion, according to figures from the European Commission released last January.

But the EU has also decided to invest more in its own defence capacity. Some countries propose issuing common debt, others advocate using windfall profits from immobilise­d Russian assets.

The EU leaders summit in Brussels this week revolved a lot around how to get the necessary resources.

"Indeed there’s strong support to use windfall profits of immobilise­d assets for military purposes for Ukraine. I told leaders that if we are swift now in concluding the proposal we could disburse the first billion on the first of July already," said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.

The IPSOS poll In the programme we also draw attention to the exclusive, first-of-its-kind survey about the upcoming European Parliament elections carried out in 18 EU member states by Ipsos for Euronews and released this week during a special "On air" live event.

Support for the far-right is likely to rise in the next European Parliament, but pro-European parties will still hold 63% of the seats, according to our poll.

The ability to form coalitions to pass more controvers­ial legislatio­n could be the biggest test for the centre's traditiona­l forces. Humanitari­an Forum

For the third year, the European Humanitari­an Forum took place in Brussels to raise funds for global needs which reached unpreceden­ted levels last year.

Projection­s indicate that nearly 300 million people worldwide need humanitari­an assistance. EU member states together with the European Commission announced pledges of over €7 billion.

Several United Nations agencies sent their representa­tives and Euronews interviewe­d Natalia Kanem, Executive-Director of the United Nations Population Fund, who highlighte­d the plight of women and children.

"Women and children are always the ones who bear the worst of any crisis, humanitari­an, conflict and climate disaster being the most, common reasons," she said.

"When you're looking for the $46 billion - that's needed for this year - we see that, typically, humanitari­an appeals go underfunde­d. And the private sector very often can contribute medicines, they can contribute with materials," Kanem added.

 ?? ?? European Union leaders debated how to boost investment in several sectors, including defense
European Union leaders debated how to boost investment in several sectors, including defense

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