Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has threatened to block all EU aid to Ukraine, as well as the country’s future accession to the bloc, unless EU leaders agree to review their entire strategy for supporting Kyiv, according to a letter to European Council President Charles Michel, Politico reports.
In the letter, Orban said that no decisions on funding Ukraine, opening EU accession talks or further sanctions against Russia can be made until a “strategic discussion” takes place when leaders gather in Brussels in mid-December.
“The European Council should analyze the implementation and effectiveness of our current policy towards Ukraine, including the various assistance programs,” Orban wrote in the letter, which is undated but bears the stamp of his office.
He also questioned why Europe should continue to support Ukraine at a time when the United States, which has provided the bulk of military aid to Kyiv, may not be able to continue funding due to a party deadlock over further support.
“The European Council should have a frank and open discussion about the feasibility of the EU’s strategic goals in Ukraine. Do we think these goals are realistically achievable? Is this strategy sustainable without reliable support from the U.S.? Can we take continued U.S. support for granted? How do we envision the security architecture of Europe after the war,” the letter emphasizes.
Orban also added that “the European Council is not in a position to take key decisions on the proposed security guarantees or additional financial support for Ukraine, to approve further strengthening of the EU sanctions regime or to agree on the future of the enlargement process until a consensus is found on our future strategy towards Ukraine.”
As the newspaper notes, Orban’s letter raises the stakes in the ongoing standoff between Budapest and Brussels, which is withholding EUR13 billion in EU funds from Hungary over concerns that the country is violating EU standards in the area of the rule of law.
Without explicitly stating this, the letter suggests that Budapest may use its veto power to block the disbursement of planned EUR50 billion in aid to Ukraine – funds needed to finance the Ukrainian government while its armed forces fight a full-scale Russian invasion.
In addition to the EUR50 billion, Orban threatens to block the planned EUR500 million in military aid to Ukraine, as well as the start of formal negotiations on Kyiv’s accession to the 27-member union, which the leaders had hoped to approve at the next European Council meeting on December 14 and 15.
According to one EU diplomat, who was granted anonymity to discuss the confidential discussions, Orban “mined” the entire decision-making process on Ukraine as part of a strategy to pressure the European Commission to allocate EUR13 billion to Hungary. The diplomat noted that while in other cases Budapest abstained from voting on key issues and allowed the EU to impose sanctions on Russia, in this case “I don’t see this happening.”
“For Hungary, this is not a matter of neutrality. It is about leverage,” the diplomat said.
