EU funds 18 December 2023, 9:14am

All other EU countries seek to bypass Hungary on aid for Ukraine

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European Union leaders are actively considering alternatives to the €50 billion aid package for Ukraine, which will not necessarily require unanimous agreement from all member states. At the EU summit, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán vetoed the package against the support of 26 member states. Several politicians say they could come up with their solution after the Christmas break, Politico reports.

Orban Viktor EU csucs Ukrajna csatlakozasi targyalas

After Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán vetoed a proposal to send €50 billion from the EU's common budget to Ukraine at the EU summit last Friday morning, leaders of the other member states are again discussing setting up a new fund to bypass Hungary. Despite Hungary's "constructive abstention," all 27 EU member states unanimously backed the start of EU accession talks with Ukraine, but leaders struggled to overcome Viktor Orbán's opposition to reshaping the EU budget to include funds for Kyiv and tackle other pressing issues such as migration.

Although initially they would have liked the fund to be part of the EU budget, diplomats interviewed by Politico now acknowledge that pragmatism is needed because of the ongoing Hungarian veto. “It’s possible for the 26 member states to provide the money on a bilateral basis,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told reporters after the European Council. “A bit of time and space over the Christmas period might help.”

“Europe and the U.S. are already having real difficulty finding extra money to continue supporting Volodymyr Zelensky’s regime,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. EU leaders, undeterred by Viktor Orbán's veto, are confident that the aid package will be adopted in early 2024. But alternative ways of delivering aid, including bilateral agreements, remain dependent on ongoing negotiations and the willingness of member states. As tensions persist, the extraordinary summit scheduled for late January or early February appears to be a crucial moment for a decisive decision on critical assistance to Ukraine.

Amid the diplomatic wrangling, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the approval of the accession talks as a major victory, while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called it a "bad decision". The situation highlights the growing tensions within the EU.

Balázs Orbán, the Hungarian Prime Minister's political director, said at the summit that the cabinet supports the EU's aid to Ukraine outside the common budget. In turn, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that at the EU summit, Orbán had indicated that Hungary could pay up to €350 million to Ukraine in this way.