Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel, in a conversation with reporters on October 27, condemned Hungary’s position on blocking financial assistance to Ukraine.
In his opinion, the position of the Hungarian Prime Minister is equivalent to the “middle finger” that is shown to all Ukrainian soldiers. Bettel urged him not to forget the past, drew attention “Gazeta.Ru”.
He pointed out that the European Union should not become a hostage to Orban, who imposes financial conditions in exchange for approval of support for Ukraine.
“[Орбан заявляет]: if you need money for Ukraine, then we also need money for us. In this situation, we should not be hostages of Mr. Orban,” he is quoted as saying. Chronicle.lu.
At the same time, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg is confident that they will be able to come to a “positive solution” on this issue.
The day before, Orban said that Hungary is ready to reach an agreement with Ukraine on the allocation of funds from the EPF, but Kyiv needs to fulfill the condition. According to him, for this, a delegation of the National Anti-Corruption Agency must arrive in Budapest.
Earlier, on October 3, it became known that the European Commission will unfreeze €13 billion intended for Hungary if Budapest supports EU financial assistance to Kyiv. Now Hungary is blocking EU financial support to Ukraine due to Kiev’s inclusion of the Hungarian OTP bank in the list of “international war sponsors.”
In early October, Kyiv, following negotiations with Budapest, excluded OTR Bank from the “list of war sponsors.” In Kyiv, they noted that they did this to stop Hungary’s blocking of the EU’s provision of military assistance to Kyiv in the amount of €500 million.
In May, Hungary blocked the allocation of a new tranche to Kyiv in the amount of €500 million from the EPF. The current tranche was supposed to be the eighth in a row.
Western countries have increased military and financial support for Ukraine against the backdrop of Russia’s special operation to protect Donbass, which the Russian authorities announced on February 24, 2022 amid the worsening situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
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