- European Union to decide on 50 billion aid package to Ukraine. Ukraine anticipates that the European Union will approve a new four-year support program for Ukraine totalling 50 billion euros on February 1. During a government meeting, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that all 27 EU members have reportedly reached a preliminary agreement on this decision. “Based on preliminary information, we can say that all 27 EU members have agreed to support this program,” noted Shmyhal. He added that Kyiv hopes that this year, the EU will be able to provide financial assistance approximately at the 2023 level. Ukraine currently needs an additional 18 billion euros to cover the budget deficit. Furthermore, Shmyhal underscored that the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has outlined a plan to offer 11,8 billion dollars in budgetary support this year. “We are optimistic and anticipate a favourable decision from the U.S. Congress on this critical matter in the imminent future”. It’s worth noting that on January 17, following bilateral negotiations in Budapest, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, initially supported the position of Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, who had earlier refused to endorse the 50 billion euro aid package to Ukraine in December. However, on January 25, Slovakia backed allocating 50 billion euros to Ukraine from the European Union over the next four years. Prime Minister Robert Fico, in talks with the head of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, reportedly pledged not to obstruct arms sales and expressed support for the EU’s financial aid program for Ukraine. In contrast, leaders of the European Union have declared their readiness for stringent measures against Hungary if its Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, decides to block the 50 billion euro aid package for Ukraine at the summit on February 1. Politico magazine commented on the matter, saying that after many years of a soft approach towards Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, “European diplomats now suggest that the ‘nuclear option’ – suspending Budapest’s voting rights in the EU if it keeps jeopardising Ukraine’s security”. Politico also reported that in that case, the EU would invoke Article 7 – the most serious political sanction against a member country, which entails suspending its voting rights in EU decision-making.
- Energoatom: there is a new threat to nuclear safety at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Energoatom, a state enterprise operating nuclear power plants in Ukraine, reported a new threat to nuclear and radiation safety at the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). Petro Kotin, the Acting Chairman of Energoatom’s Board, has indicated that the authorized period for the presence of nuclear fuel in all six reactors is about to lapse. He stated that the continued use of such fuel violates the technical specifications determined by safety standards. This could potentially lead to the integrity failure of the fuel elements and, consequently, cause a radiation accident. Kotin also added that the Russian occupation forces, who have been controlling the plant since March 2022 and are now attempting to transition Zaporizhzhia NPP’s energy units from a cold shutdown state to a hot one, can further destabilise the situation. The head of Energoatom highlighted that the Russian occupation forces are consistently violating the terms outlined in the licenses issued by the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate for the operation of nuclear facilities. This simultaneous breach extends to both Ukrainian and international legal requirements. On January 25, Rafael Grossi, Director-General of International Atomic Energy, in his address to the United Nations Security Council, stated that the nuclear safety situation at ZNPP remains extremely volatile with “very real” danger of a major accident. Grossi added that the external power supply of ZNPP remains “highly unstable” as it currently relies on only two external power lines, compared to the ten that existed before the war. He stressed that ZNPP had already lost all external power supply eight times and relied solely on emergency diesel generators—the final safeguard against a nuclear accident.
- PACE resolution on children in Ukraine. On January 25, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) unanimously adopted a resolution on the Situation of Children in Ukraine. This resolution calls on EU member countries to recognise the deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia as genocide against the Ukrainian people. The document addresses not only children deported to Russia and Belarus but also millions of Ukrainian children who are victims of the war, experiencing its consequences both physically and psychologically on a daily basis. “At present, we have successfully returned 388 children. However, it’s important to note that there are over 19,000 children in Russian captivity. At the current pace, it would take 50 years to bring them all back,” said Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, who joined the discussion before the adoption of the resolution. According to her, liberation stories confirm that rescuing older individuals is more feasible, while locating and repatriating younger, more vulnerable ones proves to be significantly more challenging. In the resolution, the PACE called on all member states, as well as observer states and states whose parliaments have observer or partner for democracy status with the Assembly and the entire international community, “to adopt statements or resolutions at the national parliamentary level condemning war crimes against Ukrainian children and recognising deportations, forced displacements, and unjustified delays in the repatriation of Ukrainian children, which occurred during the war, as war crimes”. PACE also proposed to establish a special rapporteur position to supervise the situation and return of Ukrainian children deported and forcibly displaced by Russia and Belarus. The resolution also calls for the continued enforcement of sanctions against Russia and Belarus, including the inclusion in sanctions lists of those involved in the deportation of Ukrainian children.
- Der Spiegel: Russian disinformation campaign in X (formerly titter). The German weekly Der Spiegel, following its review of a confidential report, discloses that the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed experts to scrutinise posts in X through a specialised program. The analysis unveiled a substantial network of fake accounts disseminating German-language content on the social platform. Between December 20 and January 20, more than 50,000 such accounts generated over a million tweets in German, often accusing the federal government of “neglecting its citizens” in favour of supporting Ukraine”. This seemingly well-planned disinformation campaign has been labelled a “systematic Russian effort”. The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, using data analysis experts, has been actively monitoring foreign policy debates on social media to identify potential dangers of foreign influence. In an interview with Der Spiegel, a spokesperson for the German foreign ministry emphasised that “the rising global threat of disinformation deliberately wielded by those undermining societal stability extends beyond Western democracies”.
January 26 update: EU to decide on 50 billion package to Ukraine, a new nuclear threat at ZNPP, Germany identifies Russian disinformation campaign, and PACE passed a resolution on the Russians illegally deporting Ukrainian children
26 January 2024, 20:19
