Hungary Resolute on No Aid to Ukraine From EU Joint Budget, No Entry Talks Until June

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Budapest believes that Kiev should not receive aid from the joint budget of the European Union and that the bloc should decide on membership talks with Ukraine not earlier than the European Parliament elections are held in June, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing Hungarian Minister for European Affairs Janos Boka.

"Hungary will not change its mind … We can talk about the period after the December summit with member states, [but] I do not see any factor that would change our decision, which is rooted in principle," Boka told the Financial Times.

He also said that about a third of EU member states had very serious doubts regarding Ukraine's membership in the bloc.

"We think the Ukraine assistance tool should be created outside [the EU budget] with member state contributions, mutual member state guarantees, a much shorter planning period of one year instead of four years, under the clear political leadership of the member states," Boka was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

In November, Hungary refused to approve the eighth tranche of 500 million euros ($543 million) in military funding for Ukraine within the European Peace Facility, saying that Kiev did not provide guarantees that Hungarian companies would not be put on its blacklist of "sponsors of war."

The EU is currently trying to reach agreement on 20 billion euros in military support for Ukraine and intends to include another 50 billion euros in the EU budget to provide macro-financial assistance to Kiev over the next four years. However, these plans face opposition from some member states, including Hungary, which has drawn attention to the fact that Ukraine has not yet accounted for the already provided funds.

Hungary has also called on the EU members not to include the Ukraine accession talks in the December European summit's agenda but rather postpone it for five to 10 years until the outlook for strategic cooperation with the country becomes clearer.

Ukraine applied for EU membership in February 2022 and was granted candidate status four months later, all against the backdrop of the Russian special military operation. In November 2023, the European Commission recommended launching accession talks with Ukraine. The official decision, which requires the unanimous support of all member states, is expected to be made at the EU's summit in Brussels scheduled for December 14-15.