Hungary insists that any aid to Kyiv should not come from the EU budget, and a decision on membership negotiations should wait until June, the Financial Times writes, citing Hungarian EU Affairs Minister Janos Bock.
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“Minister Janos Bock told the publication that Hungary insists that any aid to Ukraine cannot come from the joint EU budget, and that a decision on membership negotiations must wait until the European Parliament elections in June,” the Financial Times said.
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“Hungary will not change its decision… We can talk about the period after the December summit with member countries, (but) I do not see any factor that could change our decision, which is based on principles,” the publication quotes the Hungarian minister as saying.
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Hungary is currently blocking the eighth tranche of military aid to Kiev from the European Peace Fund in the amount of 500 million euros, as well as packages of military (20 billion euros) and macro-financial (50 billion euros) support for Kyiv from the EU for 2024-2027. In addition, Budapest opposes the launch of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU at the EU summit on December 14-15.
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“We believe that the Ukraine assistance instrument should be created outside (the EU budget) with contributions from member states, with mutual guarantees from member states, a much shorter planning period – one year instead of four years, and be under the clear political leadership of member states “, added the Hungarian minister.
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Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Budapest proposes not to put the issue of starting negotiations on Ukraine’s membership in the EU on the agenda of the summit in December at all, since it is clear in advance that there will be no agreement among the member countries. He also expressed the opinion that Ukraine’s membership could be discussed in 5-10 years, subject to the conclusion of a strategic partnership agreement with Kiev.
