German Chancellor Olaf Scholz looked beyond Ukraine’s war against Russia’s invasion on Tuesday, saying he wanted to place European Union support for Ukraine on a sustainable footing by the end of the year to help Kyiv on its path to joining the bloc.
The “Ukraine facility” would bundle grants, loans, private and public investments alongside the grants Ukraine already had access to as a candidate for EU accession, he told a forum in Berlin aimed at encouraging German businesses to invest there.
“Anyone who invests in Ukraine now is investing in a future EU member state that will be part of our legal order and our internal market,” he said on Tuesday.
He said more than 2,000 German businesses are already operating in Ukraine despite the war, with 35,000 employees working at suppliers to Germany’s autos sector.
Berlin would host a Ukraine reconstruction conference in June, he added.
