Hungary delays financing weapons for Ukraine

Hungary is delaying the adoption of legislation that would allow Ukraine to receive up to 2 billion euros from the EU for weapons at the expense of profits from frozen Russian assets.

This was reported by the Financial Times, citing knowledgeable sources, Ukrinform reports.

As noted, after a long debate, the EU countries this month agreed to use the proceeds of about 190 billion euros of frozen Russian assets, which are stored in the Belgian depositary Euroclear, to purchase weapons for Ukraine.

However, according to five people who participated in a May 22 meeting of EU ambassadors, the Hungarian ambassador opposed the acceleration of disbursements, saying that the EU should unanimously support each disbursement to Ukraine.

“At the moment, they are blocking everything related to military support for Ukraine,” one of the people interviewed told the FT, suggesting that Budapest's reservations will remain at least until next month's European elections.

In order to reach an agreement on the use of profits from frozen Russian assets, EU officials offered Hungary a deal under which its share of Brussels' funds would not be used to buy weapons for Ukraine, the source said.

This convinced Budapest not to veto, but it is delaying the implementation of the plans by not supporting the necessary legislation. Hungary does not generally object but has concerns about the automation of payments. Diplomats hope to find a way to resolve these issues before the July disbursement. Hungary declined to comment on such plans.

Hungary has previously stalled numerous European decisions regarding support for Ukraine. However, Budapest eventually relented under diplomatic pressure from the EU and Washington, in particular with regard to the €50 billion aid package to Kyiv.

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 27/05/2024