Not only are Europeans fed up with the tens of billions flowing to Ukraine on what is becoming a regular occurrence, but some European governments also seem to be balking at the endless cash flow.
Of course, Hungary has consistently come out against continuously funding Ukraine, but due to the country’s isolation on the issue, it has often ended up acceding to EU demands. However, even some other major European countries are beginning to drag their feet over the extraordinary sums of money.
The Italian and Spanish governments are now indicating that they are unwilling to support the EU’s proposal to give €40 billion to Ukraine this year, with the plan for each country to contribute the funds based on the size of its population.
Hungarian news outlet Mandiner points to Reuters, which says the proposal comes from the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, who is strongly supported by Northern European countries and most Eastern European countries.
Péter Szijjártó, Hungarian minister of foreign affairs and trade, said: “We will not allow ourselves to be dragged into this, and we will not allow weapons to be shipped to Ukraine using Hungarian taxpayers’ money!”
The Hungarian foreign minister said that Budapest supports peace negotiations instead of more weapons for Ukraine.
However, Kallas is refuting the Reuters report that some member states are showing reservations about the €40 billion in funding, saying there is “a broad political support,” but “a lot of details need to be worked out.”
“It’s important that the Сouncil said that we need to move swiftly, and that is what we are doing,” Kallas added.
Regardless of what the EU decides regarding the €40 billion, there appears to be sharply divergent views between the U.S. and most EU member states about the war. President Donald Trump is racing to secure a peace deal, while most of the EU wants to continue the fight against Russia.
No matter what, billions of euros sent to Ukraine will be siphoned off through various corruption schemes, something even countries like Germany admit is simply the reality of doing business with Ukraine.
