Hungary blocks approval of €18 billion in EU financial aid for Ukraine
Hungary has blocked the approval of a new EU package of financial aid for Ukraine worth €18 billion, which the Kyiv authorities urgently need to cover their ballooning state deficit and keep the economy running against the backdrop of Russia's invasion.
The aid is designed to be disbursed over the course of 2023, amounting to €1.5 billion per month.
"Hungary is not in favour of the amendment of the financial regulation," Hungarian Minister Mihály Varga said during the ministerial meeting on Tuesday.
The Hungarian veto prompted finance ministers of the European Union to delay other three key votes, including one on an internationally-backed deal to reform corporate taxation.
"Ukraine is a country at war, it desperately needs our support and we just cannot allow one member state to delay and derail this EU financial support," said European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis.
"We must deliver it, one way or another, and we will do it."
Hungary is on the verge of having €7.5 billion of its allocated share of the EU budgets frozen after failing to complete a series of reforms that are meant to address, among other issues, corruption, irregularities in public procurement and conflicts of interest from government officials.
The unprecedented freezing of EU funds was recommended last week by the European Commission under a novel conditionality mechanism, designed to safeguard the bloc's financial interests.
The European Commission's recommendation was then passed on to finance ministers, who have the final say. But the decision added on top of a long to-do list, leading to several files becoming politically interlinked.
Tuesday's busy agenda included votes on:
The tax deal has been under discussion since mid-2021 as it needs to
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