EU leaders are returning to Brussels for a second confrontation in two months with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban over his refusal to authorize a new €50 billion aid package for Ukraine. The latest attempt to "win" Orban on Wednesday at a meeting of EU ambassadors failed, The Guardian reports, UNN writes.
Details
The newspaper points out that there was a "mixture of frustration and anger" in the city when the leaders arrived for dinner on Wednesday night, the night before the emergency summit, and aides complained that "the Hungarian prime minister has failed to change his position since December, when he first blocked the funds.
"We are really at a crossroads," said one EU official.
Diplomats in Brussels emphasize that Ukraine will not be left without funding for military equipment and ammunition, as it comes through individual member states via the European Peace Fund. But they are concerned about the liquidity of the Ukrainian economy and the signal that a lack of unity would send to Putin, the newspaper writes.
"Efforts to persuade Orban to give in have doubled in the last 24 hours, with representatives of the other 26 EU states agreeing to insert a compromise clause in the draft text of the agreement demanded at the budget summit," the article says.
Hungary recently announced that it will lift its veto, but only if the budget is reviewed every year in the four-year funding period.
On Wednesday morning, the ambassadors of EU member states reportedly suggested holding an annual debate rather than voting on the funding program for Ukraine.
In the new draft text of the official agreement in question, the European Commission is said to commit to an annual review of the implementation of the financing program.
On this basis, "the European Council will hold an annual debate on the implementation of the program in order to provide guidance on the EU's approach," the draft text says.
"The latest attempt to 'win' Orban at a meeting of EU representatives on Wednesday failed. One source said that the Hungarian representative, who spoke first, told his colleagues that Hungary was "working intensively and constructively on a solution that would be acceptable to all within the MFF (EU's multi-annual budget - ed.
But, as indicated, the country's representative then demanded an annual review, accompanied by a "unanimous vote on funding," which, in the words of one diplomat, "in other words, would create an annual veto mechanism.
It was "a clear red line that almost all delegations talked about," the source said.
They insisted in response to Hungary that an annual review would be an "effective compromise," the newspaper notes.
Officials reportedly expressed surprise at Hungary's tough stance.
One senior official said: "We are really at a dead end. We will not know what he thinks until we are in the room.
Officials have developed a plan B, whereby the 26 member states would agree on money outside the EU budget. Raising the money, a mix of loans and public contributions, is thus more complicated, in some cases requiring parliamentary approval.
"It's not the end of the world, but it's a very difficult situation," the source said.
The publication also points out that at the summit on Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will raise the issue of providing ammunition.
ЄС до березня поставить Україні лише 52% обіцяних боєприпасів - Боррель31.01.24, 18:15
The information on this was reportedly gathered after Germany pressed the EU External Action Service to try to collect reliable data on each member state's contribution. Diplomats confirmed that the survey was completed, but "some member states did not provide data.