According to European Council President Charles Michel, the donor conference, which will take place in the Polish capital Warsaw, will become the starting point for the European Marshall Plan for Ukraine, which needs help because of russia's war against it.
Source. Michel expressed this opinion in an exclusive interview for Interfax-Ukraine.
Details. The President of the European Council stressed on the need to send a strong signal: European states will support Ukraine as much as possible.
Michel remarked: “I see a comparison with last century when visionary people took a decision to invest in order to rebuild the European continent after World War II. And here for this century we are facing tragedy, this war against Ukraine is a human tragedy and means that visionary leaders today have to stand up and to give a signal that we will be courageous in order to support Ukraine not only with words, not only with speeches, but also with our decisions and actions.”
Michel noted that he and President Zelensky had expressed the idea of a trust fund a few weeks ago. The European Union must be more coordinated in its actions. Priorities need to be set and resources mobilized. According to Michel, this is the first element.
Michel said that he invited the European Council to support the launching of the conference. The decision means that the idea is supported by 27 heads of state and heads of government. They want to involve the international community in the conference. This will allow donors from all over the world to demonstrate that they are in solidarity with Ukraine.
The head of the European Council said that the conference has three goals:
1) humanitarian support;
2) liquidity – it is important to support Ukraine as much as possible at the economic level;
3) rebuilding of Ukraine.
According to Michel, it is necessary to mobilize money. This requires the decision of Ukraine's friends around the world to show their solidarity. A strong tool is needed as well. This is a trust fund, which would facilitate the mobilization of money for Ukraine.