Hungary delays Ukraine arms funding from frozen Russian assets — FT

Hungary is delaying the adoption of legislation allowing Ukraine to receive up to €2 billion from the European Union for armaments using frozen Russian assets.

This is reported by the Financial Times with reference to informed sources.

As noted by the media outlet, after a long debate, the European Union countries agreed this month to use the profits from about €190 billion of frozen Russian assets, which are stored in the Belgian depository Euroclear, to purchase weapons for Ukraine.

However, as five people who participated in the meeting of EU ambassadors on May 22 noted, the Hungarian ambassador opposed the acceleration of the payments, refusing the EU's unanimous support for each payment to Ukraine.

"For the time being, they are blocking everything related to military support for Ukraine," one of the interlocutors told FT.

He suggested Budapest's reservations would remain in place at least until next month's European elections.

According to the media's source, to reach an agreement on using profits from frozen Russian assets, EU officials offered Hungary an agreement under which its share of Brussels funds would not be used to purchase weapons for Ukraine.

This convinced Budapest not to impose a veto. However, it is delaying the plans by failing to support the necessary legislation. Hungary generally does not object but has concerns about payment automation.

Diplomats hope to find a way to resolve these issues before the payment is scheduled for July. Hungary refused to comment on such plans.

Hungary has previously inhibited numerous European decisions related to support for Ukraine. However, Budapest eventually caved in under diplomatic pressure from the EU and Washington, particularly regarding Kyiv's €50 billion aid package.

It is worth noting that Ukraine already received the first tranche , €4.5 billion, in March of 2024. 

The position of Hungary regarding Ukraine

As you know, Hungary and Ukraine have had almost no high-level contact since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. However, they were activated at different levels.

Earlier, Zelensky said that during a short meeting in Argentina, he asked Orban to name at least one reason why Ukraine should not be in the EU.

As mentioned earlier, the Hungarian leader also stated that he has 75 more opportunities to block Ukraine's accession process, as each stage requires unanimous approval of EU members.

It is worth noting that the EU approved the allocation of €10 billion to Hungary last week. However, any further allocation of funds is likely to be met with stiff resistance. The other €20 billion, which belongs to Hungary, is held under a separate procedure that gives Brussels the leverage it needs.