18/10/2022 (Agence Europe) – The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced, on Tuesday 18 October, that her institution had disbursed on the same day a first tranche of €2 billion under the €5 billion exceptional macro-financial assistance (MFA) operation for Ukraine (see EUROPE 13035/36). This is part of a €9 billion package promised by the EU. With this payment, total macro-financial assistance to Ukraine since the Russian attack on 24 February has reached €4.2 billion. “More payments will follow by the end of the year”, Ms von der Leyen said on Twitter. She added that the EU would stand by Ukraine for as long as needed and would discuss how to ensure continued support with global partners at the Rebuild Ukraine conference on 25 October in Berlin. (CG)