EU officials have reportedly changed tack in their attempt to bully Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban into giving up Budapest’s veto power to unlock some €50 billion ($54.25 billion US) in new economic assistance for Ukraine.
According to a draft document from Brussels bureaucrats addressed to Orban seen by the Financial Times, the EU is proposing annual meetings to review and debate EU aid to Ukraine as necessary, in exchange for Budapest dropping its ability (and the ability of any other EU member) to single-handedly veto aid flows after each successive evaluation.
The proposal, the latest in a series of financial incentives and threats aimed at Orban amid Hungarian intransigence on fresh Western economic support for its Kiev clients, is said to expose “a widespread fear among officials that they are running out of ways to exert leverage over the Hungarian leader,” while underscoring “the level of frustration at his continual ability to disrupt the bloc’s policies and extract concessions from the European Commission and his 26 allies.”
Hungary’s EU representative appeared to dismiss the latest proposal, reiterating Hungary’s demand for an annual veto right, according to a person familiar with discussions.
“The level of nervousness is quite high,” one EU diplomat said of the discussions. “To date, we do not have this agreement,” another EU diplomat said.
Orban took to social media on Tuesday to blast Brussels’ attempts to “blackmail” Budapest by threatening to cut off economic support and try to undermine Hungary's currency to "collapse investor confidence," suggesting that “cat is out of the bag,” and that Hungary “will defend our interests” amid pressure on issues from “migration, [to] the war in Ukraine and gender propaganda.”
Along with threats to cut off economic support, EU members have reportedly considered a “nuclear option” of simply stripping Hungary of its voting rights – while simultaneously expressing concerns over setting a dangerous precedent which could ultimately unravel the political and economic bloc’s unity.
EU officials say if Hungary stands firm on its veto right, bloc members will have to find costly and time-consuming alternatives for funding Ukraine, including requiring approval by their respective parliaments for additional assistance, with ideas including extending existing loans through 2024.
Separately on Wednesday, Hungary’s Ministry of Agriculture slammed the European Commission over its recommendation to extend the tariff-free import of agricultural goods from Ukraine, citing its impact on local farmers. Hungary will maintain its ban on Ukrainian food regardless of what Brussels does, the Ministry told Sputnik.
Hungary vetoed a proposed €50 billion package of macro-financial aid to Ukraine in December, suggesting it be split into four tranches subject to approval by bloc members on an annual bases, an idea other EU leaders found unacceptable. Budapest is separately blocking a €500 million ($542 million) tranche of military aid, and the creation of a new €5 billion ($5.4 billion) Ukraine military assistance fund.
European Council President Charles Michel will convene a special summit on Thursday to push once again for unanimous approval of assistance for Ukraine, but the attempts to pressure Budapest into submission, and revelations of such attempts in media, have threatened the plan’s future.
The EU spent some €18 billion in macro-financial assistance to Kiev in 2023, with bloc support crucial in preventing the country from suffering total economic collapse amid the ongoing NATO proxy war against Russia, especially given the deadlock in the US Congress over a proposed $61 billion aid package.