The Hungarian government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has put forward a new demand for unlocking €50 billion for Ukraine. According to three unnamed European diplomats spoken to by Politico, Budapest may lift its veto on the condition that the funding is reviewed annually.
According to the interlocutors, if the European Council approved a vote to allocate funds on an annual basis, it would give Hungary the opportunity to block funding for Ukraine annually or to receive concessions from Brussels for lifting its veto.
Politico notes that Budapest formulated this idea during a meeting of 27 EU budget experts and sent a relevant document to the EU Council, which is chaired by Belgium.
According to a diplomat familiar with the negotiations, according to the Hungarian proposal, the EU would provide Ukraine with 12.5 billion euros annually in grants and loans, which would amount to 50 billion euros over four years, as proposed by the European Commission.
Some European diplomats are skeptical of Hungary's proposal.
"The EU's seven-year budget is a multi-year structure, we cannot agree on it from year to year," said one of the diplomats.
