As Kyiv prepares a counteroffensive, Hungary has not approved the payment of the next tranche of military support to Ukraine provided under the EU’s European Peace Fund, the office of the Hungarian government spokesman confirmed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Budapest is asking for “guarantees” that the funds will be used in other areas, such as the Balkans and North Africa.
The European Peace Fund, a mechanism created in 2021, is an extra-budgetary instrument designed to improve the EU’s capacity to prevent conflicts, build peace and strengthen international security, and amounts to eight billion euros.
“Hungary does not agree with the fact that the European Union, together with other existing instruments, uses the European Peace Fund only in relation to Ukraine, as this does not allow to direct sufficient funds to promote the interests of the EU in other areas. “, he justified the government spokesman’s office in Budapest in a response sent to Reuters after the information first appeared in the Italian press.
As the Italian agency ANSA reports, this would be the eighth tranche provided to Ukraine from the European Peace Fund. The €500 million bailout was supposed to be paid next Monday, May 22, but Budapest blocked the decision, demanding “guarantees” that the European Peace Fund would not be used exclusively to help Ukraine in the future, news reports said. ro.
A Hungarian government official said other areas where the funds could be used include the Balkans and North Africa.
“It is extremely important for the government of Hungary that these issues are clarified, which is why it has not approved the payment of the next tranche of the FEP,” the Reuters spokesperson’s office said in a response.
To date, the EU has provided Ukraine with about 3.6 billion euros of military support within the framework of the European Peace Fund.
As “Ukrainian Pravda” wrote, through this fund the EU supported the Ukrainian armed forces by providing seven consecutive aid packages, but also financed other countries such as Moldova, Georgia, Mozambique, Mali, Somalia, Niger, Jordan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lebanon and Mauritania.
What conditions does Hungary set for approving the payment of the next tranche of military support to Ukraine
Hungary puts forward a condition for the approval of the next tranche of military support to Ukraine within the framework of the European Peace Fund (EPF).
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Hungary will block the next tranche of EU military aid to Ukraine and any new sanctions package against Russia unless Kyiv delists Hungarian bank OTP OTPB.BU from the list of war sponsors, Reuters reports.
“We cannot give the green light while the OTP remains on the blacklist,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said, adding: “The same applies to sanctions.”
Dispute between Budapest and Brussels
In addition, at the beginning of May, the Council of the EU decided to allocate one billion euros from the European Peace Fund as part of its initiative to supply Ukraine with artillery ammunition.
Stopping the reimbursement risks discouraging some member states from continuing to supply arms to Ukraine at a time when Kyiv is preparing a counteroffensive and demanding more modern weapons, especially fighter jets and long-range attack vehicles, AFP noted.
Hungary, which is a member of the EU and NATO, refused to supply military equipment to neighboring Ukraine, where Russian troops invaded in February 2022.
Hungary has also repeatedly criticized the EU’s sanctions against Russia, which all 27 EU countries must approve unanimously, but ultimately supported all agreed measures.
Hungary is at loggerheads with Brussels as the EU bloc has suspended recovery funds until the nationalist government in Budapest implements reforms to boost the independence of the judiciary and fight corruption.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in power since 2010, has clashed with the EU and especially its executive arm, the European Commission, after Budapest curbed migrants’ rights and increased state control over NGOs, academics, media and courts .
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Source: Hot News
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