2022-03-01 19:52 update: 2022-03-04, 10:58
Mateusz Morawiecki. Photo PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, has called on the EU to offer Ukraine a reconstruction plan worth EUR 100 billion.
"We need a reconstruction plan... for example, EUR 100 billion, which would be financed by the European Union, so that in the years to come, the destroyed infrastructure, destroyed schools, hospitals, and bombed neighbourhoods could be rebuilt," Morawiecki said after meeting with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in Brussels on Tuesday.
He added it was one of the topics he had discussed with her during talks on Monday.
According to Morawiecki, "it is also very important to prepare an investment package for Ukraine, because the economy needs new investments and new jobs."
Energy security is another issue that need to be addressed.
"May the war end as soon as possible and lead to the fact that our part of Europe will finally become independent of Russian gas, oil and coal. This is a necessary condition for peace to reign here in the long term," he said.
In Morawiecki's opinion, the official acceptance by the European Parliament (EP) of Ukraine's application for EU membership is very important in this context.
The EP on Tuesday adopted a resolution urging EU members to "enable EU institutions to take steps towards an immediate granting of the status of an EU candidate country to Ukraine."
Commenting on the resolution, Morawiecki said that there is "a much more fertile ground" in Brussels now to admit Ukraine to the EU, grant it the status of a candidate country and quickly put it on the path to EU accession. (PAP)
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