EU to Bypass Hungary's Veto and Send Massive €50 Billion Aid to Ukraine

 

The European Union (EU) is prepared to provide Ukraine with €50 billion ($53.4 billion) in aid, even if Hungary continues to veto it, as per sources within the EU, reported by Reuters on Friday. 

 

The European Commission has put forth a proposal to offer Ukraine additional grants and loans to assist in its ongoing conflict with Russia. However, this proposal faced vetoes from Hungary and Slovakia in the previous month. The EU’s 27 member states are scheduled to vote on the €50 billion aid package at an upcoming summit in Brussels in December.

 

Should Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has consistently called for a ceasefire and peace negotiations in Ukraine, veto the proposal again, the EU has an alternative plan. It could circumvent the veto by requesting each of the other EU governments to establish their own aid packages for Kiev, according to two EU officials who spoke to Reuters.

 

One official expressed the sentiment that “people get fed up with Budapest holding everyone hostage,” and noted that the workaround, while tiresome, is available if necessary. Another official agreed and stressed that the issue of funding for Ukraine would be resolved one way or another, with the assurance that Kiev would receive EU support.

 

Orban had previously explained his veto of the aid package by stating that it was “obvious” that Ukraine “will not win on the frontline,” and that the EU’s strategy of imposing sanctions on Russia while providing financial assistance and weapons to Ukraine had proven ineffective.

 

The EU has already authorized a total of €83 billion in military, economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the onset of Russia’s military operation in February 2022, according to the European Commission. Despite Western support, Ukraine’s much-anticipated summer counteroffensive fell short of its objectives. The Russian Defense Ministry estimated that Ukraine had lost over 90,000 troops, along with more than 55 tanks and 1,900 armored vehicles since June.

 

General Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top military commander, conceded last week that a substantial breakthrough was unlikely, and the conflict could devolve into a prolonged trench warfare scenario that might drag on for years, gradually eroding his nation’s resources.

 

 

 

Source:   EU Times