Orban once again challenges the EU with several consultations to ask about the continuity of aid to Ukraine

2023-11-22 01:03:23

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is once again a headache for the European Union after he decided to convene a series of national consultations in which he will ask Hungarians about the continuity of aid to Ukraine and link it with European funds frozen (30,000 million euros), due to the authoritarian drift in which the country lives. The consultation will also ask about immigration and terrorism since Orban accuses the EU of financing Hamas. Hungarians can respond in writing or online and the results are not binding, but they do not help improve relations between Budapest and Brussels. The consultations will last until January.

This new move by Orban comes at a time when he has gained an ally with the victory of Robert Fico in Slovakia, known for his pro-Russian positions. It is not only about continuing to arm Kiev, but the European Union is now facing high-voltage negotiations to review the European budget between 2024 and 2027. As a highlight, an agreement must be reached to establish a financial reserve for Ukraine between loans and subsidies of about 50,000 million euros in four years in order to help reconstruction.

Although the negotiations are not yet at their peak, at the last October summit Orban and Fico already expressed their doubts about this plan. It must be remembered that any budget revision requires the unanimity of the capitals for which a single country has the right of veto. At the December summit, European leaders were expected to debate this issue again, given the danger of the Ukrainian economy collapsing in the coming months. In addition to this new package, Hungary continues to sell the last tranche of 500 million euros to continue arming Kyiv.

The doubts of Hungary, which in the end has ended up giving in to all the sanctions packages after some concessions, come at a time when aid to Ukraine from the United States faces numerous doubts due to the possibility that Donald Trump returns to the White House and the conflict between Israel and Hamas concentrates all international efforts. In a prank call, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni inadvertently acknowledged European fatigue with the war in Ukraine, at a time also when the Ukrainian offensive on the battlefield is proving more difficult than expected. I expected.