Budapest today sent a letter to the President of the European Council, António Costa, in which it justified its decision to block the EU's 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine, Politico reports, writes UNN.
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On Friday, Hungary surprised EU officials by stating that it would veto an agreement that EU leaders had agreed upon in December. Budapest went on to accuse Kyiv of an "unprovoked act of hostility" over the slow repair of the 4,000-kilometer Druzhba oil pipeline – an accusation Ukraine denies. The pipeline supplies Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia.
"Hungary did not object to the decision, based on the understanding that the loan would not affect the financial obligations" of Prague, Budapest, and Bratislava, Viktor Orbán wrote in a short letter dated February 23, which the publication reviewed.
Recent events have forced me to reconsider my position
As the publication notes, during a meeting in Brussels, EU foreign ministers could not hide their disappointment with Hungary for threatening not to approve further sanctions against Russia and not to approve a loan to aid Ukraine's war effort.
"I am shocked by Hungary's position," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told reporters on his way to the EU Foreign Affairs Council. "I don't think it's right for Hungary to use its own struggle for freedom to betray European sovereignty."
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said: "I am extremely shocked that, while Ukraine is defending itself against the might of the Russian army, the Hungarians previously understood what that was like... I would expect a much greater sense of solidarity from Hungary towards Ukraine," an obvious allusion to the Soviet troops who marched on Budapest in 1956, the publication writes.