At a meeting of EU foreign ministers on January 23, pressure will be put on Budapest to remove its veto.
Hungary blocks the European Union’s provision of a package of military aid to Ukraine in the amount of 500 million euros.
As a high-ranking EU diplomat told the Polish edition of RMF FM, Budapest’s veto annoys EU diplomats, because it has no justification, except that it “plays along” with the Kremlin. It is expected that the countries of the European Union will put pressure on Budapest on January 23 at the meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Hungary previously chose the “abstain” option during the voting and did not block aid to Ukraine, but now it increasingly uses the right of veto. At the same time, Budapest does not provide military support to Kyiv at all.
However, the EU has a maneuver that can allow Hungary’s position to be ignored. When Hungary blocked 18 billion euros of macro-financial aid to Ukraine, the European Union made a decision that would allow this aid to be provided bypassing Hungary. Then Budapest made concessions.
A similar procedure could be used this time to remove Budapest’s veto.
“It is difficult for a small pro-Russian state that has exemptions from all sanctions to dictate the position of the entire EU,” a high-ranking EU diplomat told Polish radio on condition of anonymity.
Hungary’s position on the war in Ukraine – what is known
The current prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, has repeatedly refused to impose sanctions against the Russian Federation, and has also sabotaged aid to Ukraine.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijarto called on Kyiv to start peace talks with Moscow.
At the same time, as of November 25, Hungary has frozen Russian assets worth almost 350 billion forints, i.e. 870 million euros.
