Merz Proposes €140 billion EU Loan for Ukraine

Despite the EU’s economic challenges, Chancellor Merz wants to use frozen Russian assets to fund an interest-free loan to the Ukrainian war effort.

Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Despite the EU’s economic challenges, Chancellor Merz wants to use frozen Russian assets to fund an interest-free loan to the Ukrainian war effort.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has proposed using frozen Russian wealth to create a €140 billion European Union interest-free loan to support Ukraine.

The funds would be repaid only after Russia compensates Ukraine for war damages. Merz said the loan should be agreed by a large majority of EU member states and called for a legally secure mechanism to be prepared at the European Council in late October.

Merz also mentioned that he aimed to discuss his proposal with European leaders meeting in Copenhagen next Wednesday, October 2nd. The proposal is likely to increase tension with Moscow, amid a growing number of alleged Russian incursions into the airspace of EU member states.