Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has spoken out against a 50bn-euro long-term support plan for Ukraine, which the European Union is expected to approve by early December, according to Euronews.
Under the “Ukraine Facility” plan, the EU will provide €33bn in low-interest loans and €17bn in grants. However, any changes to the EU budget must be approved by all 27 member states, allowing any country to stop the process.
At a two-day summit in Brussels on Thursday, EU leaders exchanged views for the first time since the European Commission proposed a plan for Ukraine in June. At the Summit, Orbán said:
“The Commission wants more money so that they can give it to the integration (of migrants) policy and to the Ukrainians,” Orbán said upon arrival. “We do not support any of them, the professional and political arguments are lacking, we will reject them.”
For his part, Robert Fico, who recently took office as Slovak prime minister, expressed concern about the high level of corruption in Ukraine and demanded additional guarantees to ensure that EU money was not “misappropriated”. He said that his coalition government would only approve “humanitarian and civilian aid” for the people of Ukraine.
Ukraine ranks 116th out of 180 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. Strengthening the fight against corruption is one of the seven preconditions put forward by the Commission to advance Kyiv’s EU accession bid.
The Ukraine Facility includes neither humanitarian nor military assistance, but is aimed at macro-financial support to fill Kyiv’s budget holes, maintain basic services, rebuild critical infrastructure and accelerate key reforms.
But even if Fico signs the agreement, Orbán’s resistance could derail the budget revision and jeopardise EU military support for Kyiv. Budapest has delayed a €500 million tranche of military aid to Kyiv since May and Brussels has been unable to find a way out, causing a drop in morale among Ukrainians who see themselves as part of the EU in the near future.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaija Kallas, one of Ukraine’s most vocal supporters, said on Friday morning that Orbán and Fico “were asked questions” during the leaders’ closed-door talks. Kallas said:
“How do you see the future? If we do not help Ukraine, then what is the alternative, really? I mean, Russia wins. So what happens next? Why do you think that you are safe then, when when we give away Ukraine and don’t support them right now? That question is actually unanswered by them. So I think we have to, you know, talk further.”
