Western media report that the head of the Hungarian government, Viktor Orban, signaled to the European Union his readiness to lift the veto on the provision of monetary assistance to Ukraine from the organization. However, EU leaders have not reached a final decision on the concessions that can be offered to Budapest.
Photo – AFP/ATTILA KISBENEDEK
The American publication Politico, citing unnamed diplomats and EU officials, writes that the Hungarian prime minister signaled to the European Union his readiness to lift the veto on the organization's financial assistance for Ukraine, NBN reports.
Journalists report that Budapest is ready to accept a compromise on using money from the European Union budget to support Kyiv. Such a development may occur even if the final conditions do not meet Orbán’s demands, which he put forward after the December EU summit in 2023.
The material notes that the issue of providing finance to Ukraine will be finally resolved at a meeting on February 1. At the same time, European leaders have not yet decided what concessions can be offered to the head of the Hungarian government in exchange for unlocking 50 billion euros for Kiev.
The proposal of the representative of Budapest is being considered to divide the EU funding for assistance to Ukrainians into annual tranches, which will need to be approved annually. However, most leaders are against such a scenario, which would allow Orban to block the provision of funds to Kiev every year.
The second idea is to conduct a mid-term review of funding next year, but supporters of Ukraine believe that such an option would create chaos.
The most likely third scenario for a compromise with Hungary is the reimbursement by the European Commission to the country’s leadership of the costs of paying interest rates on loans that were received during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier, the media revealed the condition under which Orban would support the provision of funds for Ukraine from the EU.