The EU passed eventual support for Ukraine in the form of a €50 billion financial aid package, but not without weeks of resistance from the Hungarian government. Hungary’s vote as an EU member state had been the primary obstacle to unanimous EU support for Ukraine’s war, with Orban holding Kyiv hostage over his own disputes with the EU.
Orban has his own problems with the EU. His government has been denied access to EU funds because of ongoing scrutiny of the rule of law and corruption in Hungary. The unanimous support necessary for EU financial support for Ukraine has been Orbán’s latest attempt to access these blocked funds
Ukraine can’t do it alone.
Zelensky relies on foreign financial and military aid to endure its conflict with Russia; without it, Ukraine would surely have lost territory. Rallying financial support from the west staged well for Ukraine during the start of the war, but since American support has been divided and the prospect of a second Trump presidency looking ever more likely, uncertainty surrounding the longevity of conflict in Ukraine has taken hold across Western countries.
Orbán took advantage of this uncertainty quickly, alleging that his EU funds had been withheld from Hungary because Brussels had spent money supporting Ukraine.
Orbán proposed lifting his veto against financial aid for Ukraine in exchange for extra time to complete milestones necessary to access its EU funds. But EU officials repeated that this was an unacceptable trade-off. Even so, EU leaders and bureaucrats were forced to sit through his prolonged protest vote, at one point even asking Orban leaving the room to “grab a coffee” so that everyone else voted for financial support for Ukraine.
The Hungarian government has also pumped millions into YouTube and Facebook ads opposing financing Ukraine’s war and further EU cooperation in neighbouring countries.
Whilst the EU has pushed back against Orbán’s euro skepticism to protect it’s image among its members, Ukraine still suffers in the background. Orbán’s disgruntled response to the freezing of Hungary’s funds has put the EU in a difficult situation regarding support for Ukraine and its security.
Orbán might have seen the question of Ukraine support as his best chance to unlock some of the frozen funds without addressing real calls for reform to Hungary’s rule of law and corruption.
Ukraine is finally released from Orbán’s hold.
EU aid for Ukraine’s war effort is set to go through until 2027, but not without cost. Hungary has strengthened Russian resolve, trashed support for Ukraine’s war, and weakened EU cooperation among its neighbouring countries.
However, demands for reform of the rule of law and corruption in Hungary still stand to unlock Orban’s blocked EU funds. Who will be Orbán’s next hostage or is it time to address the rule of law challenges from the EU?