In Berlin, representatives from EU member states and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met to discuss the future of Ukraine. They decided for immense economical aids.
“Berlin Conference” and “Marshall Plan” are two terms usually seen in a history book. A nice reminder that we live in historic times, bowever, is that both of them were used recently by the current Chancellor of Germany.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and representatives from European governments met in Berlin to discuss the future of Ukraine. The idea is to rebuild the Eastern European country from the ashes of war, easing the process for approval into the EU.
As the President of the EU Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen reminded, the World Bank estimates that damages in Ukraine account for almost 350 billion dollars. This shows both the scale to which the country has been destroyed by Russia and how hard it will be to rebuild. As Zelensky said, Russia is currently disrupting vital civilian infrastructures that will take years to reassemble.
Last June, Ukraine became an official candidate to join the European Union, but the possibility of a fast entry process was discarded. This meant that, after the war, Ukraine will have to follow some strict economic requirements to join Brussels’ block, and it will not be easy alone.
So, the EU has pledged in Berlin to help Ukraine rise from their ashes once the war is over. This means a huge plan of investments and economical aids into the war-torn country. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, speaking from a wise historical perspective, compared this to the Marshall Plan. This was the economical bridge between the USA and Europe after World War Two that helped rebuild the Old Continent. And also meant a steep rise in the global economy that led to the “miracles” of the 60s.
How to finance the new “Marshall Plan”
Until the war will be over, no reconstruction plan will obviously be drafted. So, we don’t have all the details available on how the EU wants to go about this.
At the Berlin conference, both Scholz and Von Der Leyen said an advisory board should be created. It would be formed by representatives from donor countries that supervise how and where the economical aids would actually go.
Further, Zelensky pointed out that the EU already has a large pool of assets that can be stored for future aid: Russian properties and estates in European territory. This point was repeated by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki as well. “There is a huge pot of gold to be taken and dedicated for Ukraine’s reconstruction, which is Russian assets — assets of the Russian Federation and Russian oligarchs,” he said. “Freezing means really not too much. ... They have to be confiscated.”
In any case, Zelensky also called for renewed military support to Ukraine. He said that “The best reconstruction is the reconstruction that does not have to happen at all”, asking for new weapons to defend against Russian attacks.
