European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after the European Council meeting that it was important for the bloc to continue building on its strengths and stressed the importance of the continued support for Kyiv.
"Europe must tackle youth unemployment and women's participation in the workforce," the EC president said, calling for a "reconciliation" of work and family. Von der Leyen added that the bloc needs more legal migration. "The bloc needs to make sure it has a level playing field for its companies."
"During the debate, it was very clear that despite geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, our focus remains on supporting Ukraine... We will continue to supply much-needed weapons and ammunition. We will continue to provide much-needed financial relief," he stressed Von der Leyen.
"The next step, she said, will be the proposed package of 50 billion euros for Ukraine," she added.
The head of the EU executive added that the bloc is currently consulting with member states on the next package of sanctions targeting Russia, noting that it is looking in particular at how to reduce the remaining revenue that Russia derives from diamond exports.
According to Von der Leyen, the Commission will present a proposal on how to use the proceeds from frozen Russian assets. "The idea is to withdraw unexpected profits and direct them through the EU budget to Ukraine," said the President of the EC.
The European Union froze Russian assets in March 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine the previous month. The European Commission will present its assessment of the fulfillment of the bloc's accession criteria at the beginning of November.
Von der Leyen said finance ministers had made good progress on some key principles at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Marrakesh earlier this month.
"So the next step will be an actual proposal," she said, adding that the initial focus would be on windfalls.
"We will present a proposal to find a way to use the proceeds from these assets, which currently benefit a limited number of financial institutions in the European Union," she said, although she did not comment on when the proposal would come
Von der Leyen echoed Emmanuel Macron's message to Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán regarding his recent controversial meeting with Vladimir Putin.
Commenting on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's handshake with Russian President Vladimir Putin, she said that while "the leader is sovereign and free to choose his discussion partners", it was important for the EU to have "close coordination and ... transparency if the content of the discussion concerns the European Union and the unity of the European Union." /BGNES
