PM Orban: Hungary Rejects Financing Ukraine Through Joint EU Borrowing

The Hungarian prime minister is attending the meeting of the European Council in Brussels. Viktor Orban has made it clear on multiple occasions that Hungary has a vested interest in peace and will not take part in financing the war. Ahead of the EU summit, the prime minister spoke to members of the press.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks to the press upon his arrival at the summit meeting of the European Union and the Western Balkan countries in Brussels on December 17, 2025, on the eve of the EU summit. (Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Communications Department/Zoltan Fischer)

PM Orban is taking part in what he described as a decisive EU summit on Thursday. In a post published on social media earlier in the morning, he reiterated that Hungary will not assist in financing the war.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban (left), Antonio Costa, President of the European Council (second from left), Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov (second from right) and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker (right) at the European Union and the Western Balkan countries summit in Brussels on December 17, 2025, on the eve of the EU summit. (Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Office Communications Department/Zoltan Fischer)

PM Orban posted:

The bureaucrats are vowing that we won’t be allowed to go home until Ukraine’s financing is resolved—meaning the financing of the war. We Hungarians will not take part in that. And we will stay here as long as it takes. A few sleepless nights are not the end of the world. They are certainly better than war.

Orbán held a press briefing in Brussels on Thursday morning. Regarding the proposed confiscation of Russian assets, he said there is no chance that such a move could gain majority support.

I believe this issue has been taken off the agenda,” he said. “There may be some rear-guard skirmishes, but essentially this is over. The entire issue will have to be reconsidered from the beginning.

In my view, the matter of frozen Russian assets is dead,” Orbán added. “Last night it was clear there were enough opposing countries to form what is called a blocking minority. This is a dead issue,

PM Orban said.

He noted that, so far, no one has stepped forward with a new proposal to replace what he called a failed concept. Mr. Orban emphasized that Hungary’s constitutional framework is clear: any borrowing that creates a financial obligation for Hungary requires parliamentary authorization.

“I have no such authorization,” he said, “and I do not believe that any Hungarian prime minister would ever receive parliamentary approval to put Hungary into debt through a joint European Union loan.”

For Hungary, financing Ukraine through joint borrowing is absolutely a nonstarter. Beyond the legal constraints, I also fundamentally disagree with it, because in my view we should not be financing war—we should be financing peace,

PM Orban said. He also warned of a serious development that took place while state leaders were meeting in Brussels.

Yesterday, something serious happened. While we are fighting our own battles here, there are also serious clashes in the European Parliament. Yesterday, they discussed a proposal which I believe to be unlawful, but let's put that aside for now. The proposal is to ban the use of Russian gas and oil in all Member States. For Hungary, this means that if this happens, utility cost reductions cannot be protected.

PM Orban explained. “Household energy costs would rise at least twofold, and more likely threefold.” He said a major battle took place, with Fidesz–KDNP representatives standing up for Hungary and fighting for national interests, while others did not. The Tisza Party, he added, tried to balance the issue by effectively staying out of it.

PM Orban Stands With Farmers

As previously reported, farmers are protesting in Brussels. PM Orban said the farmers are “one hundred percent right.” According to him, they face two major problems.

The first is the Mercosur agreement, a proposed free trade deal with Latin American countries, which Viktor Orban said would devastate European farmers. Hungary is among the countries that oppose the agreement, a position reached after major serious debates at home.

This also requires a qualified majority,” PM Orban said, “and I believe there are enough opponents of Mercosur to block the signing of this agreement. The plan is for the president of the Commission to sign it this week, but I think we can—and must—stop it,

he said.

The second major problem for farmers, he said, is the Green Deal, which he argued overregulates agriculture, drives up costs, and creates serious competitive disadvantages.

The Hungarian government stands one hundred percent with the farmers. I am glad that Hungary is not absent from this fight and that Hungarian farmers are here as well,

he added.

Responding to a journalist’s question regarding Ukraine financing, PM Orban summed up Hungary’s position:

The basic situation is simple: there are two countries at war—Russia and Ukraine. Then there is us, the European Union. The plan is to seize the assets of one warring party and hand them over to the other. That is nothing short of a declaration of war. It goes far beyond our job and our mandate. We must not intervene in this war. We must stay out of it and work for peace.

Cover photo: Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks to the press upon his arrival at the summit meeting of the European Union and the Western Balkan countries in Brussels on December 17, 2025, on the eve of the EU summit. (Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Communications Department/Zoltan Fischer)