The path is clear for further EU financial aid worth billions for Ukraine. At the special EU summit in Brussels, Hungary gave up its resistance to the project.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has given up his block on EU plans for new aid to Ukraine. All 27 heads of state and government have agreed to the planned support package worth 50 billion euros for the period until the end of 2027, said EU Council President Charles Michel at the special EU summit in Brussels.
It is still unclear whether Orban was given concessions for this. 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 on at a regular EU summit last December. At that time, however, Orban vetoed it and thereby prevented an agreement.
EU diplomats accuse Orban of blackmail
The Hungarian had previously questioned the usefulness of the plans several times and in this context also pointed out that, in his view, the EU had wrongly frozen funds from the Community budget intended for his country.
In the morning, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other leading heads of state and government from EU countries tried to get the Hungarian head of government to agree to the plans for new aid to Ukraine. A picture distributed by EU Council President Michel showed top politicians discussing the issue in a small circle with Orban shortly before the start of a special summit.
Before the summit, Orban said in an interview with the French magazine “Le Point” that Hungary was ready to be part of a solution. However, the prerequisite is that you decide every year whether you want to continue sending money or not.
However, other member states such as Germany rejected this. One reason is that they want to assure Ukraine of long-term support. It is also about depriving Hungary of opportunities for blackmail. EU diplomats accuse Orban of trying to use a veto policy to free EU funds that have been frozen due to concerns about the rule of law. Orban rejects this.
Ukrainian head of government thanks EU
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has already thanked the European Union for granting new financial aid. “The EU member states have once again demonstrated their solidarity and unity with the Ukrainian people in resisting the war,” Shmyhal wrote on the online platform X (formerly Twitter). The 50 billion euros by the end of 2027 are an “important contribution to our common victory”.
Source: Stern
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