According to Politico, right now Germany and the Netherlands are arguing with France about whether Ukraine will be able to purchase American weapons with the help of a 90 billion euro EU loan.
Points of attention
- While Macron aims to enhance the bloc's defense capabilities, other countries like Germany and The Netherlands advocate for granting Ukraine more flexibility in utilizing the EU financial package for defense purposes.
- The disagreement underscores the complex dynamics within the EU as member states navigate diverging interests and strategic priorities in the realm of defense and security.
What is known about the new conflict in the EU?
As mentioned earlier, back in December 2025, the bloc's members agreed to provide financial support to Ukraine in the amount of 90 billion euros.
However, the key problem is that EU countries will have to agree on the formal terms of this funding.
First of all, we are talking about tense negotiations with the team of French leader Emmanuel Macron, which is doing everything possible to prevent this money from being directed to Washington amid the split in NATO.
Official Paris calls for giving priority to European defense companies.
Macron believes that this will make it possible to strengthen the bloc's defense industry — even if it means that Ukraine will lose the opportunity to immediately purchase all the necessary weapons to deter the Russian army on the front.
Most countries, led by governments in Berlin and The Hague, instead believe that Kyiv should have more freedom in using the EU financial package to finance defense, according to position papers reviewed by the publication.
