Romanian expert: Hungary's decision to block military support for Ukraine plays into Russia's hands
Hungary has not approved the disbursement of a new €500 million tranche of military support for Ukraine offered under the European Peace Facility, a government spokesman told Reuters. Budapest does not agree with the European Union's policy towards the situation in Ukraine, he said. At the same time, experts say Hungary's decision to block military support for Ukraine is in the self-interest of the Budapest authorities, as well as its economic relations with Russia.
The Hungarian government spokesman told Reuters that Hungary does not agree that the European Union should use European Peace Facility funds only for Ukraine. According to him, this does not allow sufficient funds to be allocated to promote EU interests in other areas.
Italian news agency ANSA reports that Budapest has asked for guarantees that the money from the fund will not be spent exclusively on arms purchases for Ukraine. The European Union has so far provided a total of around €3.6 billion in military support to Ukraine from the European Peace Facility fund.
Bucharest-based political analyst Cosmin Popa told Radio Moldova that such a decision reveals the self-interest of the Budapest authorities and plays into the hands of the Russian Federation.
"Hungary is in the middle of negotiations with the European Commission to release the resilience funds. Budapest is doing what it has always done. It is blocking certain initiatives, which are of the utmost interest to the European Commission, in order to get them to resume funding Hungarian projects. Hungary is in line with Russia on certain strategic issues, mainly things related to energy resources", said Cosmin Popa.
The EU has suspended any payment of EU recovery funds to Hungary until the Budapest government implements reforms in the field of justice and the fight against corruption.
