The Court of Justice of the European Union has rejected a lawsuit by the previous Hungarian government, which attempted to block the transfer of proceeds from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine through the European Peace Fund.
Euronews writes about this.
Hungary, under the previous government of Viktor Orban, last year appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union with a demand to annul the decision of the Council of the EU, according to which interest income from frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia was directed to Ukraine through the European Peace Fund (EPF) — the main EU instrument for military assistance.
Orbán’s government argued that the European Peace Fund had violated EU law by ignoring the Hungarian veto on the grounds that Hungary was not a “contributing member state”. Hungary claimed a violation of the principle of equality of member states because one of them had been “unjustly and without legal grounds” deprived of its voting rights.
The Court ruled that the matter did not fall within the jurisdiction of the EU judiciary and dismissed the action. The Court concluded that the contested decision constituted a strategic choice within the framework of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, an area that is largely immune from judicial review.
What preceded
Between 2022 and 2024, the EU mobilised €6.1 billion under the European Peace Facility to address Ukraineʼs urgent military and defence needs. In 2024, the EU decided to increase the financial ceiling of the European Peace Facility by €5 billion, creating a dedicated Fund for Ukraine. This brings the total amount of financial support allocated through the European Peace Facility to €11.1 billion.
The previous Hungarian government led by Orban maintained close ties with Moscow and regularly blocked aid to Ukraine.
The political situation has since changed. Following parliamentary elections in April, Hungary’s new government revised the country’s foreign policy doctrine, which now identifies Russia as a threat. On September 8, Budapest expelled ten Russian diplomats for “unacceptable activities”. Moscow quickly condemned the move.
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