The proposal marked a de-escalation from Orbán’s December opposition to grants for Ukraine from the EU budget, although diplomats caution that Hungary has already floated this option in the past.
Since the summit veto, other governments have pressured Orbán to relent, particularly as U.S. financial support to Ukraine is also on the line. On Friday Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said reaching an agreement, which requires the support of all EU governments, was “the first priority.”
The budget issue was also discussed by some EU leaders and Orbán at the memorial for former Commission President Jacques Delors in Paris on Friday, an EU diplomat said.
In practical terms, Hungary’s proposal would give Orbán the power to block EU funding to Ukraine every year ― or squeeze concessions from Brussels for lifting his veto. In December the Commission unblocked around €10 billion to Hungary that had been frozen over rule-of-law violations in what critics saw as a sweetener to get Budapest on board.
In Friday’s meeting, Hungary proposed that the EU hand out €12.5 billion in grants and loans every year to Ukraine, according to a diplomat with knowledge of the proceedings. Under the original Commission proposal, the €50 billion comprised €17 billion in grants and €33 billion in non-budget loans until 2027.
Diplomats from several EU capitals spoke out against the plan, noting that a year-to-year solution would deny Ukraine sufficient predictability. “The MFF [the EU’s seven-year budget] is a multiannual framework, we cannot do it on a year-to-year basis,” one EU official said. The plan will next be discussed by EU ambassadors on Wednesday.
