PM Orban: The Commission's Plan B Is Hungary's Plan A!

Hungary has yet to agree to supporting the EU's financial assistance to Ukraine. However, the country remains ready to reach an agreement on the issue by February 1, at the latest.

"Hungary welcomes the fact that the European Commission is making good progress in the elaboration of Plan B, which includes the financing of Ukraine from outside the EU budget. What they consider as Plan B has always been Plan A for Hungary."

It’s good to see that the @EU_Commission is preparing a plan B for the 1st of February, according to which financial support given to #Ukraine could be managed outside the EU-budget. This is a good decision! The Commission’s plan B is the Hungarian plan A!

— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) January 9, 2024

PM Orban's remark is in response to an article published by Politico on January 9, which claimed that Hungary was willing to lift its veto on EU aid to Ukraine.
Hungarian PM Orban was the only one at the last EU summit to block the EU's 50-billion euro aid that Brussels intended to provide for Kyiv over the next four years. Mr Orban was of the opinion that any EU aid to Ukraine should not come from the EU budget. He said

Hungary does not want to engage in collective borrowing and get into a joint debt, together with other countries.

Citing EU diplomats, Politico underscored that Hungary might consider lifting its veto if funding for Ukraine is subject to an annual review and approval. This proposal implies that the EU would allocate €12.5 billion each year in grants and loans to Ukraine, as opposed to committing to providing 50 billion euros over a four-year period.

PM Viktor Orban's chief political advisor, Balazs Orban, recently informed Bloomberg that Hungary maintains its opposition to the full four-year aid plan. Instead, Hungary prefers the EU to allocate a single year of funding to Kyiv without altering the budget.

Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office/Zoltan Fischer 

According to the Financial Times, the European Union has devised a Plan B in case Hungary persists with its veto at the planned extraordinary summit. Under this plan, the European Commission could secure up to 20 billion euros from the capital markets for Kyiv next year. This would be facilitated by guarantees to the EU budget from participating member states. Importantly, Plan B would not rewuire a unanimous decision or guarantees from all 27 EU member states.

Zoltan Kovacs, the state secretary in charge of international relations, has confirmed that Hungary would not commit money from the EU budget to Ukraine. He said 

"Hungary welcomes the fact that the European Commission is making good progress on Plan B, which envisions that support for Ukraine should be provided from outside the EU budget. Their Plan B is equivalent to Hungary's Plan A." 

Cover photo: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo: Prime Minister's Press Office/Zoltan Fischer)