Oil-rich Norway is seeking to donate $7.3 billion to Kyiv as part of a five-year support package that would make the Scandinavian country one of the world’s biggest donors to war-torn Ukraine, the Norwegian government said on Monday. .
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the money would be divided equally between military and humanitarian aid over five years, broken down to $1.5 billion a year. The proposed aid package will be put to a vote in parliament.
Last week, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that, overall, the European Union’s economic, humanitarian and military support for Ukraine now amounts to almost 50 billion euros. Earlier this month, the EU said it would present its tenth package of sanctions against Russia on February 24, the anniversary of the war. It will target technology used by Russia’s war machine, among other things.
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Norway, which is not a member of the EU, gave Ukraine more than $1 billion in civil and military aid last year.
“It will lead to more use of oil money,” Gahr Støre said, adding that he expected “a large majority” in Norway’s parliament to approve the aid package. A parliamentary majority is expected to approve the proposal.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana, left, and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store speak at a conference in Oslo, Norway, February 6, 2023. (Terje Pedersen/NTB Scanpix via AP)
“Supporting Ukraine is supporting a people at war, but it is also supporting our fundamental security,” Gahr Støre told a news conference.
“We are showing the Ukrainians that we will support them for a long time,” adding that it would make “better planning possible so that the money is used where the needs are greatest.”
At a conference the previous Monday in Oslo, Gahr Støre spoke of a new Iron Curtain dividing east and west.
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“The implications for Europe are hard to overestimate. A Russia in self-imposed isolation is bad news for us.” He also said that “Ukraine’s needs are immense.”
The Oslo government also proposed increasing aid to countries affected by the war in Ukraine by $490 million; that money should be used for humanitarian aid and food.
Last week, the Norwegian government said oil proceeds should go to finance more aid to Ukraine.
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Norway is one of Europe’s biggest exporters of fossil fuels, and the conflict in Ukraine has boosted its gas revenue. However, Norway has defended itself against accusations that it is profiting from the war in Ukraine.
The rush by European countries to secure alternative energy sources following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago has dramatically increased demand and the price of Norwegian oil and gas.
