Hungary’s PM confirms his willingness to unblock €50bn for Ukraine, under one condition

Viktor Orbán. Photo: Getty Images

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has confirmed that Budapest sent a compromise agreement to Brussels last Saturday, which will unblock €50bn in EU funding for Ukraine.

Source: Orbán, in an interview with the French magazine Le Point, released by the Hungarian prime minister’s press service

Details: The Hungarian prime minister revealed that under the compromise, he will agree to release funding to Ukraine “if you guarantee that the decision to continue sending money will be reviewed every year”. In practice, this will essentially give Hungary another opportunity to hold up aid every year.

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Orbán noted that this annual approval should be unanimous among all other EU members.

“Unfortunately, this stance is perceived or interpreted by some countries as a tool for annual blackmail… Our position is that it is not about using our veto for blackmail, but about restoring and preserving the unity of the European Union,” the Hungarian prime minister said.

Background:

• Last Friday, an EU official revealed that negotiations to approve a four-year, €50 billion financial assistance programme for Ukraine are becoming more challenging as Hungary is refusing to budge ahead of a 1 February summit.
• At the same time, Balázs Orbán, the political director of the Hungarian Prime Minister, claimed that Brussels was blackmailing Budapest, even though the latter had proposed a compromise allowing the EU to provide a €50 billion aid package to Ukraine.

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