BRUSSELS
\nEuropean Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday to put another 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) into a fund that has been used to pay for military support for Ukraine, after it was largely depleted during almost 10 months of the war.
\nMore top-ups may be possible at a later stage, said the European Council grouping of the bloc\u2019s member states.
\n\u201cToday\u2019s decision will ensure that we have the funding to continue delivering concrete military support to our partners\u2019 armed forces,\u201d EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
\nIn their monthly meeting in Brussels, ministers will also try to agree on further sanctions on Russia and Iran.
\nHowever, it remained unclear whether Hungary will block these decisions, resorting to what diplomats have denounced as \u201cblackmail diplomacy\u201d due to a dispute over locked EU funds for Budapest.
\n\u201cThere is agreement, in principle, but there\u2019s also the big elephant in the room,\u201d a senior EU diplomat told reporters, referring to Budapest\u2019s use of its veto power. \u201cIt\u2019s a type of blackmail diplomacy that we would rather not see, but it is what it is.\u201d
\nRegarding Iran, foreign ministers are due to review new sanctions over human rights abuses in Tehran\u2019s crackdown on protesters and the supply of drones to Russia.
\n\u201cWe are going to approve a very tough package of sanctions\u201d, Josep Borrell said ahead of the meeting. The EU \u201cwill take any action we can to support young women and peaceful demonstrators.\u201d
\nGerman Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the sanctions would target Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards, among others.
\n\u201cWith this sanctions package, we are targeting in particular those who are responsible for the executions, the violence against innocent people…these are especially the Revolutionary Guards,\u201d she told reporters.
\nBaerbock spoke after Tehran executed a second man involved in anti-government protests following calls by the Revolutionary Guards for Iran\u2019s judiciary to act swiftly and decisively.
\nThe ministers will also discuss a ninth package of Russia sanctions that is set to place almost 200 more individuals and entities on the EU sanctions list, but in the morning Borrell stressed there was still no agreement on this at this stage. He hoped that could come later on Monday or on Tuesday.
\nForeign ministers are set to pave the way for a three-year military mission to Niger, with 50-100 troops at first and later up to 300 to help the country improve its logistics and infrastructure.
\nOne of the poorest countries in the world, Niger is seen as being at risk of a possible spillover of violence from neighbouring Mali, where Islamist militants are gaining ground following the withdrawal of French and other European forces.
\nAdditional reporting by Bart Meijer, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Thomas Escritt; Writing by Sabine Siebold and Ingrid Melander; Editing by Ros Russell, William Maclean.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRUSSELS European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday to put another 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) into a fund that has been used to pay for military support for Ukraine, after it was largely depleted during almost 10 months of the war. More top-ups may be possible at a later stage, said the European Council […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205131,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3501],"class_list":["post-300857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-european-union"],"yoast_head":"\n