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Hungary Condemns EU Plan To Cripple Its Economy

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Hungary has condemned a leaked secret European Union plan to cripple Hungary’s economy if Prime Minister Viktor Orbán decides this week again to block a 50 billion euro ($54.2 billion) EU aid package for wartorn Ukraine.

“Brussels is using blackmail against Hungary like there’s no tomorrow, despite the fact we have proposed a compromise,” said Balázs Orbán, the prime minister’s political director.

“Now, it’s crystal clear: this is blackmail and has nothing to do with the rule of law. And now they’re not even trying to hide it,” added political director Orbán, who isn’t family-related to the prime minister.

János Bóka, Hungary’s EU minister, added: “The document, drafted by Brussels bureaucrats, only confirms what the Hungarian government has been saying for a long time: access to EU funds is used for political blackmailing.”

The EU has frozen tens of billions of dollars in funding for Hungary due to concerns over its rule of law situation and the perceived undermining of democratic standards.

The EU’s executive European Commission decided last month to grant Hungary access to 10.2 billion euros ($11 billion) to reimburse project spending on approved projects, saying the government made justice reforms.

The EU’s European Parliament condemned the move, saying the money was given in exchange for Hungary not vetoing the launch of EU membership talks with Ukraine.

BILLIONS FROZEN

At the same time, the Commission said a total of 21 billion euros ($22.7 billion) in EU money will remain frozen.

The secret plan leaked over the weekend suggests that the EU would not transfer money to Hungary if it blocks more aid to Ukraine.

Under EU rules, all 27 member states, including Hungary, have to agree on the measures.

However, the absence of EU funding would spook markets and weaken Hungary’s currency the forint and impact the economy, analysts expect.

Already faced with skyrocketing prices, Hungary has recorded the highest inflation in the EU for most of the last year, rising to over 20 percent for 11 months.

In October, Hungarians spent 7.3 percent less than a year earlier, according to official data.

Under pressure, Hungary, seen as Russia’s closest ally within the EU, has offered that instead of approving the aid package in full, leaders should agree to split it in annual tranches and introduce a review mechanism.

ORBAN POWER

But Western diplomats fear that idea would allow Orbán to block the money at a later stage and give him too much power over EU decisions.

Hungary says it wants Ukraine to tackle corruption and improve the rights of about 150,000 ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine, several of whom have died while fighting in the army, and other minorities. In an arguably hopeful sign, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó met his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in western Ukraine on Monday to prepare the ground for a possible meeting between leaders of the two countries to discuss these and other issues.

Also on Monday, Orbán‘s political director said that Hungary is open to using the EU budget for the proposed aid package but on certain conditions to be met by Ukraine.

Fearing no breakthrough, EU officials have reportedly been working on possible alternatives, including committing to the 50 billion euro delivery of aid from 26 countries only, voluntarily, by decoupling it from the EU budget.

However, that proposal requires approval from national parliaments, creating more uncertainty.
If a deal can’t be reached, EU leaders could still extend by one year the 18 billion euros in aid provided in 2023 to Ukraine.

But with Russia’s military continuing to attack the nation, Kyiv has made clear it needs more money from both the EU and the United States to keep on fighting.
Besides the delayed 50 billion euros from Brussels, Ukraine still awaits $60 billion from the U.S. due to political wrangling there.

With time ticking away for Ukraine, it emerged that several member states are pushing for a triggering of Article 7 of the treaty of the European Union to strip Hungary of voting rights if Orbán continues to block EU decisions.

Such is the concern about Budapest’s maneuvers that the EU’s European Council president, Charles Michel, abandoned his plans to step down in July amid fears that Orbán could take the chair at summits until a new leader was found.

Hungary is still scheduled to take over the EU’s rotating presidency in the second half of this year, and it wasn’t clear Monday whether that could be prevented.