Orban gives up blockade – EU decides on new Ukraine aid
Published: Thursday, Feb 1st 2024, 12:21
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Hungarian head of government Viktor Orban has given up his blockade of EU plans for new aid for Ukraine. All 27 heads of state and government had agreed to the planned support package worth 50 billion euros (around 46.6 billion Swiss francs) for the period up to the end of 2027, EU Council President Charles Michel announced on Thursday at the special EU summit in Brussels.
It initially remained unclear whether concessions were made to Orban in return. According to several diplomats, this was not the case. However, there was initially no information on the subject from the Hungarian side.
The aid package should actually have been decided at a regular EU summit last December. However, Orban vetoed it at the time, preventing an agreement from being reached.
The Hungarian had previously repeatedly questioned the usefulness of the plans and in this context also pointed out that in his view the EU had wrongly frozen funds earmarked for his country from the EU budget.
In the morning, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other leading EU heads of state and government tried to persuade the Hungarian head of government to agree to the plans for new aid for Ukraine. In a picture circulated by EU Council President Michel, the leading politicians could be seen conferring with Orban in a small circle shortly before the start of a special summit on the subject.
Before the summit, Orban had said in an interview with the French magazine "Le Point" that Hungary was ready to be part of a solution. However, the prerequisite was that a new decision was made every year as to whether or not to continue sending money. However, other member states rejected this. One reason is that they want to guarantee Ukraine long-term support. It is also about removing Hungary's ability to blackmail. EU diplomats accuse Orban of trying to use a veto policy to free up EU funds that have been frozen due to rule of law concerns. Orban rejects this.
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