Podlasa on Orban's statements about blocking 35 billion euros to Ukraine: it was a political farce

When Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that he would block the allocation of 35 billion euros to Ukraine, which was a political farce, he did not have that option. After all, all that was needed to allocate the funds was a simple majority vote in the EU Council. This was reported by Roksolana Pidlasa, MP, chairman of the parliamentary committee on budget, during a telethon on Wednesday, UNN reports.

For Ukraine, this will be a non-repayable loan. That is, Ukraine will not repay this loan of 50 billion euros, which will come to Ukraine. It will be repaid from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets. Most of the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank are located in the European Union, in Belgium, and these funds generate, according to the latest data, from 4 to 5 billion euros annually. With these funds, the EU is offering this 35 billion euro loan to itself and to other countries that will join the mechanism of assistance to Ukraine, including the United States

She noted that it is important for the US that Russian assets are frozen for at least 3 years, because now every 6 months the EU Council extends the freeze and each time Hungary can use its veto power, which creates great uncertainty for the US.

"And now, when the European Commission has proposed to the EU Council to extend the asset freeze for up to 3 years, Orban (Hungarian Prime Minister - ed.) has again used his veto. Therefore, when he said that he would block the allocation of 35 billion euros to Ukraine, it was a political farce, he did not have that option. To allocate 35 billion euros, only a simple majority of votes was required during the vote in the EU Council, but a unanimous decision was needed to freeze it," explained Pidlasa.

Ms. Podlasa also said that there is now talk that the United States will share its contribution equally with the EU even if there is no three-year freeze.

"When we talk about $50 billion for Ukraine, this $50 billion is the maximum. That is, if the United States provides $20 billion, the EU reduces its contribution from 35 billion euros to 39 billion, and if it is in dollars, also to $20 billion, and another $10 billion is provided by other G7 countries - Britain, Canada and Japan," Podlasa said.

Addendum

Bloomberg reportedthat Orban has again blocked EU efforts to sanction Russia, which are necessary for the deployment of a $50 billion loan to Ukraine.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal saidthat 35 billion euros of special financial assistance to Ukraine through the use of frozen Russian assets, which was agreed by the permanent representatives of the European Union member states, should be available to Ukraine by the end of this year.

On October 14 , it was reportedthat the European Parliament's MEPs on Trade approved a financial aid package to support Ukraine, including an exceptional Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) loan of up to EUR 35 billion.

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According to the G7 plan, windfall profits generated by the assets will be used to gradually repay the amount of money each ally will lend to Ukraine. If these profits are no longer available, the West will have to pay the bills.

Initially, it was assumed that the EU and the US would contribute to the loan in equal installments of 18 billion euros (20 billion US dollars) each, but the lack of specifics from Washington forced Brussels to sharply increase its share to 35 billion euros.

The bloc's contribution could be reduced if the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan end up making larger pledges. Australia, which is not part of the G7, could also contribute.

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