The EU ambassadors have endorsed a proposal giving EU member states immediate access to more initial funding from REACT-EU (Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe), in support of refugees from Ukraine, Report informs referring to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
A total of 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion) will be paid out this year as increased initial prefinancing under REACT-EU, one of the largest post-pandemic recovery programs in the EU, said an EU press release.
EU Member states with higher numbers of arrivals, as either transit countries or countries of final destination, will receive a larger share, it said.
The countries which will receive 45% pre-financing are Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, which share a border with Ukraine, as well as Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, and Lithuania, which had accommodated a number of displaced persons equivalent to over 1% of their populations by March 23, 2022.
The proposal makes it possible to alleviate the pressure on the public budgets of EU member states so that they can deal with the inflow of refugees from Ukraine, it added.