On Thursday, the European Parliament refused to vote on funding from the Council of the European Union until Ukraine receives Patriot missile systems, according to the Ukrainian newspaper “European Pravda”.
According to the newspaper, Guy Verhofstadt, a long-time MEP and former Belgian prime minister from the Renew Europe political faction, proposed removing budget approval from the European Council's agenda so that member states could find the seven Patriot systems that Ukraine urgently needs – according to the newspaper . As for the official, Europe has 100 Patriot systems, while Kiev orders only seven.
The decision was considered an unprecedented event, as it was supported by 515 members of the European Parliament, while only 62 opposed it. Verhofstadt wrote on the social network “X”: “Parliament refuses to spend the Council’s budget until the European Council decides to support Ukraine with additional Patriot anti-missile systems!”
Urgent – Parliament refuses to spend the Council’s budget until the European Council decides to support Ukraine with additional Patriot anti-missile systems! pic.twitter.com/zDvA4xyUct
– Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) April 11, 2024
“For now: The European Parliament has suspended the EU Council funding resolution for its failure to provide Patriot systems to Ukraine2,” commented Andrius Kubilius, a Lithuanian MEP.
Now: The European Parliament suspended the EU Council's funding resolution for failing to deliver Patriot systems to Ukraine.
–Andrius Kubilius (@KubiliusA) April 11, 2024
After another Russian missile attack this evening, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukraine needs strong air defense and other defensive support: According to the Ukrainian president, some drones and missiles have been shot down, but others are still hitting critical infrastructure in various locations.
It is noteworthy that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba spoke on Wednesday with Ukraine's allies about the details of negotiations on the supply of Patriot air defense systems. He revealed that Ukraine's change in tone came after “the failure of soft and silent diplomacy”, ensuring that it now hopes its new style of hard diplomacy will help achieve new progress.
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