Orbán voices a demand for Hungary's participation in a joint EU decision on an aid package for Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
Hungary is ready to join a pan-European decision on financing assistance to Ukraine if there is a guarantee that it will be able to decide annually whether to provide money.
Hungary is ready to take part in a joint decision by the 27 EU member states on a funding package for Ukraine if it is guaranteed that it will decide every year whether to send the money or not. This was stated by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in an interview with the French edition Le Point, UNN reports.
We decided to make a compromise proposal: we do not agree to change the budget. We do not agree that we should give 50 billion euros, a huge amount. We don't agree that we have to give it for four years and so on. But hey, Hungary is ready to participate in the 27 decision if you guarantee that every year we will decide whether to send this money or not. And this annual decision should have the same legal basis as today: it should be unanimous. Unfortunately, every year some countries understand or interpret this position as a way of blackmail
When asked that the other 26 EU member states say that a plan approved every year will not allow Ukraine to plan its spending for four years, and whether this is an acceptable argument in his eyes, Orban replied that "it is an argument that should be taken seriously, but I do not accept it," listing why he thinks this is so, and in particular mentioning that "no one knows whether the Americans will play the game or not, today or after the US presidential election in November 2024.
