It’s another step in Hungary’s long-running conflict with the EU: Viktor Orbán’s administration blocked an 18-billion EU support package for Ukraine this Tuesday. This fund.
European Budget Commissioner, Johannes Hahn said the commission was now looking for a way to “deliver the necessary solutions to Ukraine by January”. One of the solutions to ratify the package is to seek an enhanced cooperation mechanism, the legal way for only nine member states to get approval for this financing, barring Hungary’s veto.
However, this solution requires EU countries to guarantee budgets, which in some cases may require parliamentary approval, which may take some time.
The Hungarian Prime Minister chose to use this veto as a guarantee, with the aim of receiving EU funds, which the Commission recommended should be approved, but with the condition of approving a package of reforms. This is 5.8 billion euros from the Recovery and Resilience Programme. If the plan is not partially approved by December 19, Hungary could even lose access to 4.1 billion euros from the PRR.
The Czech Republic’s finance minister, who is now president of the European Council, demanded that a “solution supported by 26 member states” be sought to circumvent Hungary’s veto.
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