Hungary to block €2 billion in EU aid to Ukraine

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó (Getty Images)

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has declared that Budapest will block the European Union’s assistance to Ukraine amounting to 2 billion euros, citing Index.

He cited the reason as the ongoing “discrimination against Hungarian companies” in Ukraine. According to him, until the situation changes, the provision of assistance will not be approved.

He noted that Brussels wants Budapest to agree to allocate an additional 1.5 billion euros by EU members to Ukraine, in addition to the 500 million euros blocked by Hungary.

“Hungary’s position remains unchanged: until we receive guarantees from the Ukrainian side that they will cease targeting Hungarian companies, we cannot support such decisions,” Szijjarto emphasized.

Hungary’s stance on war in Ukraine

Hungary is not new to supporting Russia on issues related to the war against Ukraine. In particular, Budapest continues to oppose anti-Russian sanctions, justifying this by the lack of desired effects on the aggressor.

Hungarian officials have also repeatedly called for an end to military aid to Ukraine.

In particular, earlier, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban synchronously called on Western countries to cease providing military assistance to Ukraine if “they want the conflict to end.” The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called such a statement the height of cynicism.

Last autumn, Hungary stated that the temporary exclusion of Hungary’s OTP Bank from the list of “international sponsors of war” by Ukraine does not significantly change the situation.

In early April, high-level Ukrainian and Hungarian delegations held an online meeting to discuss ways to resolve key bilateral agenda items. Of the 11 points proposed by the Hungarian side, five have already been practically agreed upon.