The Council today adopted legislative amendments making it possible for member states to redirect resources from cohesion policy funds and the Fund for European Aid for the Most Deprived (FEAD) to assist the refugees escaping the Russian military aggression against Ukraine. The total amount of assistance will be EUR 17 billion.
“The swift amendment of the legislation on EU funds is a clear statement of the EU’s continued solidarity with the refugees from Ukraine and with the member states hosting them, in particular those sharing borders with Ukraine, ” a communique of the European Council, distributed on Monday, reads.
“This is an important step in ensuring member states have sufficient resources to meet the growing needs for housing, education and healthcare, ” the press release reads.
SPAR International and SPAR organizations in Europe are helping to solve the issue of employment for Ukrainians who had to move to European countries due to the war, according to a company release.
The company is currently accepting applications (temporary and long-term) from displaced Ukrainian citizens in the 17 EU countries where SPAR operates.
The applications consolidate information about the places of residence of internally displaced persons, the level of language proficiency and professional skills. As reported in the release, SPAR pan-European HR directors are united in an international working group to coordinate applications and place retail specialists from Ukraine in their network.
Founded in the Netherlands in 1932, SPAR International Grocery Store operates over 13,000 retail outlets in 52 countries. Since 2017, the network has been developed in Ukraine by the investment group VolWest Group (Lutsk). The network has 68 stores.
Kazakhstan will not be a tool to circumvent US and EU sanctions against Russia, Timur Suleimenov, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Kazakhstan, said.
In an interview with Euractiv, he called the purpose of his visit to the EU “to demonstrate to our European partners that Kazakhstan will not be a tool to circumvent sanctions against Russia by the US and the EU.”
“We will comply with the sanctions. Despite the fact that we are part of an economic union with Russia, Belarus and other countries, we are also part of the international community. Therefore, the last thing we want is for Kazakhstan to be subject to secondary US and EU sanctions,” he stressed. Suleimenov.
“We will do our best to control the sanctioned goods. We will do our best to control any investment in Kazakhstan by individuals or organizations that are under sanctions, and this is what we wanted to openly convey to the Europeans,” he said.
During the summit of the leaders of the European Union and China, which will be held on April 1, the main topic of discussion will be the war waged by Russia against Ukraine and its negative impact on the global security, economic and trade systems.
This was announced by the European Commission on the eve of the summit.
“Given the severity of recent developments, discussion during the summit is expected to focus on Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine and its negative impact on the rules-based system, global security and economy,” the press release said.
In addition, the EU and Chinese leaders will review a comprehensive bilateral agenda between Brussels and Beijing, including trade and investment relations, climate action, digital technology, human rights, post-pandemic economic recovery, and regional issues.
The summit will be held in the format of a videoconference. The EU will be represented by the Presidents of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the Presidents of the European Council Charles Michel, with the participation of High Representative Josep Borrell, China – Prime Minister Li Keqiang.
The European Commission begins negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the Life for Climate and Environment Program, which will allow receiving EU support in restoring the ecosystem after the war waged against it by Russia.
“Today, the European Commission begins negotiations with Ukraine to offer the country the opportunity to join the Life for Climate and Environment Program,” European Commission spokesman Adalbert Janz said at a briefing on Thursday.
According to him, by joining the Life Program, Ukraine will benefit from European support in rebuilding its environment after the destruction caused by the Russian attack. In particular, we are talking about heavy pollution and damage caused to the ecosystem. “This will be useful in order to secure the long-term well-being of the country and its sustainability,” he stressed.
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has announced an additional EUR500 million for Ukraine, he said this at a press conference following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.
He said he was pleased to announce that they had reached a political agreement on an additional EUR500 million within the European peacebuilding opportunities. He added they would continue to support Ukraine economically, financially, with humanitarian aid, and support the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
According to Borrell, all member states remain extremely united in supporting Ukraine diplomatically in the international arena, will continue to isolate Russia, call for accountability for war crimes, for violations of international and humanitarian law.
He also said that the EU regards what is happening in Ukraine as large-scale war crimes committed by the Russian armed forces against the Ukrainian people. And this will not remain unpunished. Therefore, they welcome the commission established by the UN Human Rights Council. They welcome the investigation (into these crimes) by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, the high representative said.
In this regard, he stated that the ministers call on Russia to comply with the decision of the International Court of Justice, according to which it must stop the invasion of Ukraine. Borrell also assured that the EU is ready for further restrictive measures, in coordination with their partners, in order to continue to put pressure on Russia.
