Hungary Fumes Over EU’s Use Of Russian Assets To Buy Weapons For Ukraine
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Hungary vowed Monday to launch legal procedures against the European Union after the bloc found a way to use proceeds from frozen Russian assets to buy arms for Ukraine, despite Hungarian opposition.
With a first tranche of proceeds worth 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) due next week, EU officials scrambled to allow the funds to be used immediately to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia’s ongoing invasion.
The money was supposed to be channeled to Ukraine through the Ukraine Assistance Fund (UAF), but payments were blocked by Hungary, Russia’s closest ally within the EU.
Under EU guidelines, key decisions require unanimous backing from all 27 member states, including Hungary.
Yet the EU Council’s legal service argued that Hungary can’t stop the assistance for Ukraine because it abstained from voting in May on creating the UAF, said the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
Additionally, the funding does not come from EU taxpayers, which makes Hungary’s opinion less critical, according to EU officials.
“We have a legal procedure to avoid any kind of blockage,” Borrell told reporters at a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Luxembourg.
HUNGARY’S ROLE
“Since Hungary didn’t participate in the decision, it is not necessary that they … participate in the implementation,” he stressed.
“Now we have to implement this decision. The money will come next week. And I cannot have this money in my pocket – this money is for military support to Ukraine,” Borrell added.
However, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó expressed outrage about the EU move, saying the bloc “has crossed a red line” by using proceeds from frozen Russian assets to finance the supply of weapons to Ukraine
“Hungary did not want this, and a unanimous decision would have been needed,” he told Hungarian media.
Hungary’s chief diplomat complained that “military fervor has blinded the decision-makers” in the EU and warned that the Hungarian side was already exploring “legal possibilities” to challenge the decision.
The country could launch a procedure at the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice tasked with ensuring EU law across all member states.
Szijjártó warned that the move poses “a long-term risk to the functioning of the European Union.”
OPPOSING WEAPONS
Hungary opposes the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, saying it seeks peace talks to end a war that has killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people.
Despite Monday’s agreement, Hungary continues to block the disbursement of 6.6 billion euros (nearly $7.1 billion) as partial compensation to EU states for weapons bought from Ukraine.
At the same time, billions of euros in EU funding for Hungary remain frozen over rule-of-law concerns.
There was also some worrying news for Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as differences emerged between him and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The two nationalist rightwing leaders were meeting in Rome ahead of an EU leaders summit later this week — the first since European Parliament elections — and as Hungary prepares to take over the rotating EU presidency on July 1.
After their talks, Meloni said that in Ukraine, “we know very well that our positions do not always coincide”- a reference to Italy’s staunch support for Kyiv and Hungary’s warmer ties with Russia.
Hungary as a “precious ally” and highlighted their shared concerns, from falling birth rates to migration.
SUPPORTING KYIV
She said that on Ukraine, “we know very well that our positions do not always coincide”- a reference to Italy’s staunch support for Kyiv and Hungary’s warmer ties with Russia.
Prime Minister Orbán highlighted common positions with Italy — but confirmed his Fidesz party would not be joining Meloni’s grouping in the European Parliament.
“We cannot be in a party alliance with an anti-Hungarian Romanian party,” he said, referring to Romania’s far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians.
Meloni’s European Conservatives and Reformists group (ECR) has become the third largest faction in the 720-seat EP following this month’s European elections in radical right parties performed strongly.
Despite their disagreements, Meloni said she “very much appreciate the position that Hungary has shown so far, both within the European Union and within NATO, allowing other member states, allowing allies to make very important decisions even when he didn’t completely agree.”
Both leaders also agree on family-friendly policies, saying their nations need more babies and fewer migrants to solve the demographic winter in their countries.
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