EU Asked Ukraine Not Treating It as ATM

In a conversation with Volodymyr Zelensky, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said that the EU is not a charitable organization. According to him, only Ukrainians can carry out the reforms necessary for country. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the European Union is not a charity or an ATM. So stated Borrell on the website of the EU Delegation to the country. “As I told the president, the European Union is not a charity or an ATM: the best option for us to support Ukraine is to help reform the country. But only the Ukrainians themselves can carry out these reforms,” Borrell wrote. However, he noted that the EU and Ukraine still have a lot to do together. The EU High Representative noted that the coronavirus pandemic worsened the socio-economic situation in Ukraine, the country's GDP fell by 11.4% in the second quarter of 2020. Borrell recalled that in September, the daily number of coronavirus infection new cases in the country exceeded 3 thousand and suggested that if the rate of infection continues, hospitals may overflow. He noted that the first months after Zelenskiy's election as president were characterized by a "turbo mode" of long-stalled reforms. However, according to many observers, Borrell wrote, the reform process has slowed recently, and the layoffs of those who made the changes have become alarming signals. The EU High Representative notes that, despite this, Zelenskiy is still a source of hope for changes in the country. EU is to allocate € 1.2 billion to Ukraine to fight COVID-19 Politics Since the Association Agreement conclusion between the EU and Ukraine in 2014, the latter has received € 14 billion in support, Borrell said and called the amount of assistance unprecedented. In July, it became known that the European Union agreed to provide Ukraine with emergency macro-financial assistance to fight the pandemic in the amount of € 1.2 billion. At the same time, Deputy Head of the European Commission (EC) Valdis Dombrovskis noted that the EU allocates much more to Ukraine “than any other partner ". Earlier this week, Borrell confirmed his readiness to allocate money to Kiev but noted that for this Ukraine needs to "constructively interact" with the International Monetary Fund and fulfill the requirements for "strengthening the rule of law" in the country. Then he stressed that the EU allocates funds to Ukraine not because it is a charitable foundation or a non-governmental organization but because it is interested in state prosperity and stability.