Speaking to Euronews in Davos, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that member states could decide on the Ukraine aid package without Hungary if need be.
“The European Commission is prepared to help Ukraine in the future without Hungary if Viktor Orbán continues to block the deal,” the EU commission president told a reporter.
However, she did not say what form the financial package for Ukraine would take without Hungary. It was originally planned to be financed from the seven-year EU budget, but as is known, Hungary said no to this proposal at the EU summit in December.
Euronews noted that, according to leaks last week, Hungary is currently negotiating and asking for an extension of the deadline for using the frozen recovery funds in exchange for approving the package.
The Financial Times has learned from an unnamed source that the European Commission would be willing to make concessions to Hungary. As Remix News reported, the Hungarian prime minister said at the mid-December EU summit that he remains opposed to the EU giving a planned €50 billion euros to Ukraine.
“The Hungarian position is clear,” he said. “First, we want to know what the huge amount of money we have given them so far has been spent on. Afterward, we want to know who is responsible for the fact that the European Union is on the brink of bankruptcy.”
According to the EU treaties, Hungary has a veto right regarding foreign policy decisions such as this. If the EU bypassed the treaties, it would mark a brazen disregard for rule of law in this instance, but largely in line with the current trajectory across Europe, in which member states and Brussels are increasingly choosing power and brute force when the rules and laws impede their agenda.
