European Parliament delays approval of Council budget to push for military aid to Ukraine – POLITICO

Verhofstadt’s decision is widely seen as a parliamentary play, as lawmakers do not have the power to force the Council to provide weapons. In any case, the two institutions have been in a long-standing budgetary dispute because the Council refuses to participate in Parliament’s audit checks and Parliament has not approved the Council’s budgetary discharge in any year since 2009.

The report’s lead author, Irish MEP Luke Ming Flanagan, said the Council did not care about the vote.

“Of all the institutions you don’t punish by delaying the vote, this is the one that doesn’t matter. They don’t care,” he said. “The Council doesn’t meet with us, doesn’t talk to us or answer questions,” he added.

Verhofstadt said he was “fed up with what is happening in Ukraine” as Russia continues to bomb hospitals, energy facilities and cities and noted that even though the EU says its door is open to Kiev’s membership in the bloc, “it is not even capable of doing so in such an emergency.” decide to send a certain number of anti-missile systems.”

In his speech, Verhofstadt, visibly angry, recalled that “there are in total… 100 of these Patriot systems in Europe and they asked for seven.”

EU leaders will meet for a special European Council next week and the next session of Parliament begins on April 22.