Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said funding Ukraine from the EU’s budget is a “bad decision” – days after vetoing a proposed €50bn (£43.4bn) multi-year assistance package for Kyiv.
The move came hours after the bloc agreed to formally open membership talks with Kyiv, bypassing Hungarian opposition.
Leaders in Brussels are set to revisit the issue of additional funding for Ukraine next month after Mr Orban failed to back it. It leaves future EU aid for Ukraine up in the air after Kyiv announced today that it had received the last tranche of this year’s agreed support (see 11.08 post).
“I am convinced that to give Ukraine £50bn from the EU budget for five years… That’s a bad decision,” he told a news conference today.
However he said he could foresee the EU circumventing Budapest on the issue by striking a deal among the other 26 states. The deal would also deny Hungary access to linked EU funds, such as on migration.
“If this comes up, we will consider what we say,” said Mr Orban.
Mr Orban used the same news briefing to criticise Ukraine for preventing former president Petro Poroshenko from leaving the country for a meeting with him, over concerns it could be used to exploit Ukrainian interests.
The Hungarian leader said it raised questions over Kyiv’s EU ambitions.
He said while introducing special rules during the conflict was acceptable, “if a meeting between a Ukrainian citizen and a Hungarian prime minister carries a national security risk, then how do they want to become members of the EU?”.
