Today, February 1, a special summit of the leaders of the European Union (EU) will be held in Brussels. They will consider the allocation of €50 billion in aid to Ukraine for the next four years. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban still opposes this decision.
The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) write about it.
On the eve of the summit, assistants of European officials complained that the Hungarian prime minister did not change his position regarding the allocation of aid to Ukraine. One of the officials, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity, said the diplomats were "really at a crossroads."
Ukraine will not be left without funding for armaments, as funds for this come from the European Peace Fund. However, the delay in approving the aid package shows Russian President Volodymyr Putin the lack of unity among European countries, and also makes him worry about the liquidity of the Ukrainian economy.
The last attempt to convince Orban on the eve of the summit at a meeting of EU representatives was unsuccessful. The Guardian writes that the ambassadors of the EU member states proposed to hold an annual debate, instead of voting on providing funds to Ukraine. In the new draft of the official agreement, the European Commission undertakes to review the implementation of the financing mechanism every year, but diplomats worry that this will give Hungary the opportunity to block aid to Ukraine every year.
It is not known whether Prime Minister Orban will agree to this plan. According to journalists, officials have developed a "plan B" — 26 member states can agree on money outside the EU budget. Raising the money, a mix of loans and government contributions, will be more difficult and in some cases will require parliamentary approval.
"This is not the end of the world, but the situation is very difficult," diplomats told reporters.
Without the approval of this aid package, Ukraine may face a shortage of funds to pay salaries and pensions in the coming weeks, and the Armed Forces will go on the defensive under pressure from Russia, the WSJ claims. EU leaders are threatening to punish Hungary if it blocks an aid package to Ukraine this week — diplomats could strip the country of some voting rights in the EU Council and withhold additional funds from the EU budget for Budapest.
The importance of allocating aid to Ukraine is reinforced by the fact that European leaders increasingly fear that their own security may be at risk, the journalists claim.
- On October 3, 2023, the European Parliament adopted a resolution supporting the European Commissionʼs proposals to revise the multi-year EU budget, which provides for the creation of a special Ukrainian fund in the amount of €50 billion. However, Hungary was the only country that opposed this initiative, in fact it vetoed the EUʼs decision to provide Ukraine with €50 billion in economic aid.