Hungary to block EU’s €1.5 billion aid for Ukraine, claiming “witch-hunt” against Hungarian companies

Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention previously labeled Hungary’s OTP Bank as an “international sponsor of war” since it continued doing business in Russia. In response, Hungary threatened to block aid for Ukraine unless the OTP bank was removed from the list. In October 2023, the bank was removed from this list at the request of Hungary, which in return promised to unblock the allocation of €500 million from the EU military fund.

“Richter has not breached any rules or sanctions in Ukraine … conducting operations in Russia does not violate any laws. The pharmaceutical industry is not in any way under sanctions,” Szijjártó claimed, according to The Budapest Times.

During a press conference on the sidelines of the EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on 22 April, Peter Szijjarto claimed that the bloc was “preparing for a world war” and putting enormous pressure on Hungary. He mentioned that besides the 500 million in aid to Ukraine, which Hungary blocked, the EU was planning to fund member states’ weapon deliveries with another 1.5 billion euros from the European Peace Facility.

Hungary routinely blocks EU’s Ukraine aid to get benefits for itself

Aid was originally set to be approved at an EU summit in December, but Hungary vetoed the deal until a compromise could be reached. In February, after weeks of negotiations, the 27 members of the European Union agreed to provide €50 billion in financial assistance to Ukraine from 2024 to 2027, making minor compromises with Orbán, including provisions for annual reports, leader-level debates, and fair evaluation of the rule of law in Hungary.

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