DISINFO: The EU’s €90 billion loan aimed at financing Ukraine’s death machine
SUMMARY
The EU’s €90 billion loan to Ukraine is presented as a “victory,” but it will not solve Ukraine’s economic problems and will force further austerity, so Ukrainians will have to tighten their belts even more. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has set in motion a death machine for the Ukrainian people and does not want to stop it.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that the EU is financing Ukraine's war effort to the detriment of its own citizens. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The EU has designed its €90 Ukraine Support Loan specifically to ensure that it does not create a financial burden for the average European citizen. Instead of taking money away from national services like healthcare or local infrastructure, the loan will be taken from other sources. It is “based on EU borrowing on the capital markets backed by the EU budget headroom,” and parts of it are expected to “be repaid by reparations due by Russia.” €30 billion is meant to support the Ukrainian budget and €60 billion will be used to strengthen Ukraine's defence industrial capacities.
Most of the money is intended to be spent within Europe. Since a large portion of the loan goes toward purchasing equipment from European companies, it effectively acts as a boost for local industries and supports jobs within the EU. The European Commission's proposal stipulates that defence products financed from the loan should, in principle, originate from the EU, European Economic Area, European Free Trade Association and Ukraine. Only if products are not available there, or cannot be delivered fast enough, can products from other third countries be bought.
Read a similar disinformation case claiming that Ukraine will be worse off with the EU's loan.