− "There's only one question everyone is asking here, in Brussels: where has the money gone?” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in his Facebook video, posted ahead of the two-day summit of EU leaders in Brussels. Hungary's premier said the European Commission had submitted a budget amendment proposal, asking member states to make additional payments to the tune of billions of euros.
This begs the question: how did we end up in this situation, how could they drift the EU to the brink of bankruptcy?
− PM Orban asked, articulating the question that is on everyone’s mind.
He then listed what Brussels would want to spend the billions of euros on.
They want member states to pay €50 billion so they could give it to Ukraine, when they cannot even account for the money we have given them so far. Member states are asked to pay huge sums to cover the interest on loans the EU has taken out in the past. These are the loans of which Poland and Hungary have not seen a single cent so far,
− PM Orban underlined, adding that the Commission is asking member states for more money for handling migration. However, the money won't be spent on border protection, but to bring in illegal immigrants, he added.
Of course, they have not forgotten about themselves, and they're asking for billions of euros to raise the salaries of Brussels bureaucrats
− the premier said.
Hungary's position is clear, he underlined. "First we want to know what the money we have given so far has been spent on. Then we want an answer to who is responsible for bringing the European Union to the brink of bankruptcy,” Mr Orban said.
As the daily Magyar Nemzet has highlighted in several of its earlier pieces, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently announced that - in the context of the mid-term review of the seven-year EU budget - she requires member states to make additional payments, as the available financial resources have already been exhausted.
As EU funds have run dry because of supporting Ukraine, Brussels wants more payments from member states, and it's even considering taking out further loans. At the same time, Ursula von der Leyen announced another €50 billion in aid for Ukraine,
– wrote Daniel Deak, a senior analyst at the XXI Century Institute, earlier on Facebook.
