Orban wants to wait for Trump before extending EU sanctions against Russia - Bloomberg
Kyiv • UNN
Viktor Orban told EU leaders that he was not ready to extend sanctions against Russia until after Trump's inauguration in the United States. At the EU summit, the Hungarian prime minister called on Europeans to “show strategic patience.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has told EU leaders that he wants to wait until after the inauguration of his ally Donald Trump in the United States before deciding whether to extend the bloc's sanctions against Russia, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter, UNN reports.
Details
The EU has imposed 15 packages of sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, which must be renewed every six months.
Until now, this has been a common decision, but an extension requires the unanimous support of 27 member states, which could allow Orban to veto it. At the end of a day-long EU summit on Thursday, Orban surprised his colleagues by saying he was not ready to move forward with an extension, sources said.
The EU has often faced obstacles with Orban, who has blocked a number of moves to further punish Russia or help Ukraine. He has been a close ally of Trump and traveled to Florida earlier this month to meet with him in person.
At this week's summit in Brussels, the EU had already fallen into a difficult waiting game, and leaders were on standby to see what he would actually do when he returned to the White House, the newspaper writes.
"The main message today was full support for Ukraine as long as it is needed," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference on Thursday evening.
But Trump's return, the newspaper writes, has caught the EU at its most vulnerable moment in recent years, forcing leaders to work together to find a way forward.
The meeting, which was aimed at achieving unity, was marked by some notable absences. French President Emmanuel Macron skipped the summit to assess the damage from floods on French territory in the Indian Ocean. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni left the meeting early due to the flu. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was there, but politically limped home, awaiting early elections.
And, as noted, Orban played a leading role at the summit's closing press conference, where he noted that the United States would soon have a new president.
"I suggest that Europeans show strategic patience," Orban told reporters.
As the newspaper points out, it will be difficult for European governments to fill any vacuum in aid to Ukraine left by the United States.
The EU should "spend more money on defense, that's the short answer," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters.
Scholz, who received a vote of no confidence in parliament earlier this month, said he was confident that foreign policy cooperation with the United States would continue under the Trump administration. He spoke to Trump by phone on Thursday.
"I am absolutely sure that the United States, as well as Europe, will continue to support Ukraine," Scholz told reporters about his conversation with Trump. - "But, of course, with a clear perspective that there will be a just peace for Ukraine, that it will be able to protect its sovereignty and that the killings will stop.
