By Athena Papakosta

European Union leaders have agreed that more money should be allocated for military support to Ukraine. However, they were unable to agree on how they would go about doing this.

On the one hand, they agreed to pressure the European Investment Bank (EIB) so that it can now also invest in defense by adjusting its policy on lending to the defense industry and the current definition of dual-use goods.

On the other hand, the “27” disagreed on how to find the money for Europe’s defense shield amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and the need to continue military support for Kiev.

Her prospect of issuing a Eurobond supported – apart from Greece – by France, Italy, Estonia and Poland, but it was opposed by the “frugal” members of the Union, such as Germany, the Netherlands and Austria.

There was an agreement in principle regarding the utilization of profits from frozen Russian assetsa proposal presented by the European Commission on Wednesday with the aim of providing up to 3 billion euros to Ukraine annually.

In her statements, the president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, emphasized that “if we act quickly” the first installment of 1 billion euros could be sent to Ukraine by July, while she revealed that the European Union is preparing to impose tariffs on imports of grain from Russia and Belarus.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on European Union leaders to send more air defense systems and use the billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.

At the same time, however, the Kremlin made it clear that if the European Union uses profits from frozen Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine, it will retaliate and use every legal mechanism at its disposal.

The first day of the European Council in Brussels also ended with the agreement on the start of accession negotiations of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European Union with the conclusion text also referring to the next steps for the accession process of Ukraine and Moldova, as requested by Lithuania.

“Bosnia-Herzegovina’s place is in the European family. “Today’s decision is an important step on the path to the EU. Now the hard work must continue so that Bosnia and Herzegovina can move forward steadily, as its people wish,” he said in a related post on “X” (formerly Twitter) President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

The European Council also occupied the Middle East and the European leaders, in the text of the conclusions, called for an “immediate humanitarian pause that will lead to a sustainable truce” while, expressing their concern “about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and its disproportionate impact on civilians” they urge the Israeli government not to launch a ground operation in Rafah.