Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that Budapest has vetoed a decision on a €50bn long-term aid programme for Ukraine.
“The outcome of the night shift: a veto on additional money for Ukraine, a veto on the revision of the multi-year budget. We will return to this issue next year at the EU summit after appropriate preparations,” Viktor Orbán wrote on social network X following the first day of the EU summit in Brussels.
The EU was expected to amend its budget, which runs until 2027, to include €33bn in loans and €17bn in grants for Kiev. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte expressed confidence that the EU leaders would resolve the issue by the end of January 2024.
Earlier, the political adviser to Hungarian Prime Minister Balazs Orban said that Budapest was ready to lift its veto on the allocation of money to Ukraine in exchange for unblocking the European funds intended for it.
Hungary has blocked almost all EU decisions on Ukraine, including the eighth tranche of 500 million euros in military aid, 5 billion euros from the European Peace Facility for military support in 2024, a wider package of 20 billion for military aid over four years, and 50 billion in macro-financial aid for 2024-2027.
Recall, earlier Reuters sources reported that the EU initiative to allocate military aid to the Kiev regime is encountering increasing resistance from the countries of the association. Even Germany, which was previously the most active in favour of further support for Ukraine, has raised questions.