The European Union will try to find an “alternative” solution to send 18,000 million euros that are vital to kyiv
The pulse between Brussels and Budapest continues to mark the European political agenda. Hungary vetoed this Tuesday macro-financial aid to Ukraine worth 18,000 million euros at the meeting of finance ministers (Ecofin) that was held this Tuesday in Brussels. The Government of Viktor Orbán seeks to pressure the Twenty-seven to unlock 7,500 million regional funds and the 5,800 million of the Hungarian recovery plan that the EU keeps frozen for its violations of the rule of law.
But the European Union (EU) does not intend to give in to blackmail. In fact, the Twenty-seven assured this Tuesday that they will try to find a solution with the rest of the Member States to approve aid to kyiv, which needs this outlay to meet its most urgent needs. Although without Hungary the package cannot be adopted in its entirety, the European countries hope to achieve “an alternative” that does not require a change in European financial regulation and, therefore, can be approved without unanimity within the European Council.
“Unfortunately, we cannot adopt the package in its entirety, but we are not discouraged and our ambition remains to start disbursing our aid to Ukraine in early January 2023,” said Czech Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura.
Negative report from Brussels
At the next ministerial meeting, the Twenty-seven are expected to decide on the freezing of funds to Hungary. The European Commission issued a report in this regard last week in which it advised blocking the disbursement of 7,500 million, since the country “has not complied” with the 17 corrective measures demanded by Brussels, according to the Budget Commissioner, Johannes Hahn. .
In that same appearance, the Community Executive gave the green light to the Hungarian recovery plan, a step that encouraged optimism about a possible improvement in relations with Budapest. Of course, the European Commission conditioned the Next Generation funds to the fulfillment of 27 milestones. These are, for the most part, measures to guarantee judicial independence in the country. “If these objectives are not met, there will be no payments,” summarized the vice president of the Community Executive, Valdis Dombrovskis.
Meanwhile, Hungary has paralyzed numerous crucial European decisions -which require unanimity-, such as economic aid to Ukraine and the minimum rate of 15% for multinationals.
But this situation will not be able to last much longer, since the European Council must take a decision on the Hungarian funds before December 19. At her entrance to the meeting of ministers, the First Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño, indicated that she expects a decision on the matter “in the coming days.” Meanwhile, Germany, France and Italy called for a review of the European Commission report.
In the same sense, the Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, expressed himself that he could convene a ministerial meeting next week.
Topics
Nadia Calviño, European Commission, European Union (EU), Albania, Germany, Brussels, Budapest, France, Italy, kyiv, Ukraine, War in Ukraine
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