Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has threatened to block the EU’s assistance for Ukraine and the country’s future accession to the bloc until EU leaders agree to review their support strategy for Kyiv in a letter to EU Council chief Charles Michel, Politico has reported.
Orban has called on the EU Council to hold a “strategic discussion” on Ukraine at an EU meeting in Brussels in mid-December and warned that Hungary may bloc the aid amid decreasing assistance from the US.
Earlier, the EU had said the block had a Plan B if Hungary used its veto to block a planned €50 billion aid package to Ukraine.
“The issue of money for Ukraine will be solved. One way or another, Kyiv will get EU support,” the official said adding, “If Hungary becomes an obstacle to the needed unanimity to do it via the EU budget, member states will find another way, like an intergovernmental agreement or national guarantees,” a EU official familiar had suggested.
Officials: EU has ‘workaround’ if Hungary vetoes Ukraine aid
In 2022, Hungary had initially vetoed a proposal to provide Ukraine with €18 billion in financial aid for 2023. However, after several months of negotiations, Budapest eventually agreed to the package.
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