Hungary has once again blocked a tranche of military aid from the European Union for Ukraine in the amount of about €500 million.
Reuters writes about this with reference to the words of the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjártó.
In Hungary, they are dissatisfied with the fact that in Ukraine, the Hungarian OTP Bank is on the list of "international sponsors of war" by the National Security Agency. At the same time, they are ready to unlock the aid package if the bank is excluded from the list.
- On May 17, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary already stated that his country will block the next tranches of EU aid for Ukraine in the amount of €500 million as long as OTP Bank is on the list of war sponsors.
- Earlier, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption of Ukraine announced that it had included OTP Bank, the largest Hungarian bank, on the list of war sponsors because of the position of the bankʼs management to continue operating in the Russian Federation. The NAPC maintains a list of sponsors of the war, but it has no status and does not lead to any legal consequences.
- After that, Hungary blocked the allocation of another €500 million tranche from the European Peace Fund. It finances to member states the cost of military equipment that they transfer to Ukraine.