Thierry Roge / Zuma / ТАСС
Prime Minister Orban refused to give Ukraine new loans and thwarted the adoption of a joint EU declaration on an updated asylum policy.
At the summit of the European Council (the highest political body of the EU) that ended in Brussels on June 30, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban once again went against the grain. He said that the Hungarians are already having a hard time. They can't accept the fact that the prices for public utilities have increased 8-10 times. Therefore, Budapest will not give Ukraine any money until it becomes clear what use was made of the €70 billion given to Kiev by the European Union. Until a detailed report is provided, requests for new infusions seem ridiculous and absurd to him.
It was expected that the EU heads of state and government would have no problem with the approval of a new €50 billion package of financial aid to Ukraine to rebuild its economy and infrastructure. However, it didn't work out.
As a result, the final communiqué contained an ornate formulation: "The European Council reconfirms the EU's readiness to provide sustainable military support to Ukraine for as long as it takes, notably through the EU Military Assistance Mission and the European Peace Facility. But (and most importantly): "Support will be provided as long as it does not harm the security and defense policies of certain Member States of the Union or the European Union as a whole."
On the eve of the summit, Orban, in an interview with the German newspaper Bild, expressed the opinion that Ukraine is no longer a sovereign state, and that achieving peace depends not on it, but on the United States.
"Thinking that Ukrainians can win a war against Russia is a misunderstanding of the situation. <...> It is impossible," believes the Hungarian prime minister.
In his opinion, continuing to provide financial assistance to Ukraine "only delays military action and therefore will lead to much higher costs in the reconstruction of Ukraine after the end of the conflict."
He "belongs to a different school," which considers it necessary to negotiate peace rather than to continue hostilities.
"The big players argue that we should follow the same path that we followed, that they will give money, the Ukrainian soldiers will fight and in this way they will defeat the Russians," Orban said and clarified that he does not share this approach.
By the way, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba immediately attacked him. He called the prime minister's words about the impossibility of Ukraine's victory over Russia "idle talk."
The rudeness and impudence of present Ukrainian politicians of all ranks is abundant. Look closely: where is Kuleba, and where is Orban...
The summit also failed to approve a joint declaration on an updated asylum policy. Hungary and Poland refused to support the document in its current wording. In particular, they rejected the planned solidarity mechanism, which provides for the distribution of a small number of asylum seekers among EU member states.
Poland insisted on a clarification. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki demanded to specify that "the redistribution procedure will not be mandatory, but will remain voluntary. However, the heads of other EU countries rejected such a proposal.
However, apart from the demarche of Warsaw and Budapest, there were other approaches.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo regretted that the joint declaration was blocked. On the other hand, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is confident that all parties involved will comply with the legal norms. Official Berlin is not too concerned about the situation, since there are different ways to implement the agreements.
In early June, as we know, EU interior ministers reached a compromise on asylum and temporary protection reform. The innovations involve a solidarity mechanism for countries facing an influx of migrants.
According to this mechanism, at least 30,000 asylum seekers can be relocated within the EU annually. Countries that do not want to accept refugees are entitled to pay compensation of about €20,000 for each rejected asylum seeker.
Following the Brussels summit, where he was forced to hold an all-round defense, Orban, speaking on July 1 at the swearing-in ceremony for graduates of the National University of Public Service, said: "We need a strong country, a strong government, a strong economy, a strong army and, not least, strong law enforcement. We need to train and arm ourselves. Times are coming when the weak nations will disappear and the strong ones will remain."
He seems to be doing all he can to make sure that the Hungarians still hold out in these troubled times. And he regularly shows his teeth.