Hungary has blocked allocation of seventh tranche of 500 million euros to Ukraine — media
Hungary blocked the allocation to Ukraine of the seventh tranche of 500 million euros from the European Peace Fund, which is intended for military aid.
A high-ranking EU diplomat told the Polish media outlet RMF FM about this on Thursday, Rubryka writes.
Until now, Hungary, which itself does not provide Ukraine with any weapons, refrained from making decisions about the next tranches of aid from the European Peace Fund and did not block this support.
Budapest's veto is causing growing outrage among EU diplomats because it has no justification other than favoring russia. European Union countries are expected to put pressure on Budapest at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday.
However, the EU has a backup plan — it was already used when Hungary blocked 18 billion euros of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine in early December 2022.
Then the European Union adopted a decision that would allow this aid to be provided, bypassing Hungary. This was enough for Hungary to give in, and the aid package was eventually approved by the 27 EU countries.
So if Budapest does not give up its veto, the EU can also take a similar decision in 26 countries, RMF FM interlocutors among diplomats in Brussels suggest. "It is difficult for a small pro-russian state, which has exemptions from all sanctions, to dictate the position of the entire EU," said one of them.
The budget of the European Peace Fund, the seventh tranche of which for the purchase of weapons for Ukraine has been blocked by Hungary, is 5.6 billion euros. For 2023, it was increased by two billion euros, with the possibility of a further increase to almost 11 billion euros.
Reference
The head of the European Council, Charles Michel, said that since the first day of the full-scale invasion, the European Union and its member states have allocated 50 billion euros in aid to Ukraine.
