On November 9, 2022, it became known that Hungary told EU finance ministers at a Brussels meeting, that it would not support any changes necessary to prepare a EUR 18 billion aid package for Ukraine.
Source: Hungarian officials
The European Commission will propose to Kyiv soft loans on a more steady basis on November 9, 2022. However, this initiative will need additional funding from the EU budget.
To secure funding for this initiative the votes of all 27 EU countries are required. However, Mihaly Varga, Hungarian Finance Minister, has informed his colleagues that he won’t vote.
In addition, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto also noted that his country would not support the EU’s macro-financial assistance for Ukraine.
Hungary supported the European Commission’s decision to jointly raise debt in order to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it has not yet been provided with its share of the funding.
The EU’s executive will discuss the status and future plans of these recovery funds in a meeting which will take place on November 22, 202. It will also discuss whether Hungary can meet an end-of-year deadline in order to access these funds in a dispute under the rules of law of the EU. Officials are still assessing 17 anti-corruption laws in Hungary which Victor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minster, has promised to put into practice.
“They punished us and openly blackmailed us with EU money,” Victor Orban stated in an interview with the German newspaper Zeitung last Month, following the delay in EU COVID-19 recovery funding for Hungary.
“But there’s no legal basis for this — it’s pure blackmail,” added the Hungarian Prime Minister.
See also: Ukraine can receive €18B in 2023, – EU Commission President
