'Pro-Russian' Hungary Blocks EU's 71 Trillion Won Support for Ukraine

Hungary Votes Against Ukraine Support Package
Additional EU Summit Negotiations Expected in January Next Year

The European Union (EU) confirmed on the 14th (local time) that it will initiate the EU accession negotiation process for Ukraine, but failed to narrow differences over a support package worth 50 billion euros (approximately 70.5 trillion won).

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban Photo by Yonhap News

According to major foreign media, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced at the EU summit held in Brussels, Belgium, that member states failed to reach an agreement on the EU joint supplementary budget for Ukraine.

The EU has been discussing a plan to support Ukraine with 50 billion euros until 2027. The financial support package is designed to help Ukraine avoid a severe financial crisis by covering interest costs on EU borrowings, migration support funds for Ukraine, and technical investment support funds.

However, the agreement failed as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb?n was the only one among the 27 member states to express opposition. For the EU to deliver support funds to Ukraine, unanimous approval from all 27 member states is required. Orb?n, who is pro-Russian, has stated his intention to veto the agenda on Ukraine support as well as discussions on EU membership for other countries.

Prime Minister Rutte explained, "There is still time," and said that EU leaders will meet again in January next year to resume the stalled agreement.

If EU support is halted due to Hungary's opposition, Ukraine's situation is expected to worsen. Ukraine is also anxious as the Biden administration's budget proposal for Ukraine support is stalled amid Republican opposition in the United States.

However, the agenda to initiate Ukraine's EU accession negotiation process was narrowly passed as Prime Minister Orb?n was absent during the vote. Politico reported that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suggested Orb?n take a short break to have coffee, temporarily leaving the meeting room. Since Orb?n's absence counts as an abstention for Hungary under the rules, it was judged that unanimous agreement among the remaining 26 countries would suffice. For Orb?n, who has maintained a close relationship with President Vladimir Putin, this was a clever move that could provide Russia with justification.

To prevent Hungary's veto, the EU set a condition to release part of the EU funds allocated to Hungary. The European Commission announced in a statement the previous afternoon that it had decided to resume the payment of the previously frozen budget allocation of 10.2 billion euros (approximately 14.5 trillion won) to Hungary.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.