“Hungary is a sovereign country, it has its interests. And unlike many European countries, it firmly defends its interests, which we appreciate”, declared Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov on Friday, December 15. During the night from Thursday to Friday,he Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, has vetoed new EU budgetary support for Ukraine, an envelope of 50 billion euros in loans and grants. The adoption of this package required the unanimity of member states. A little earlier, however, they had agreed on the opening of EU accession negotiations for Ukraine and Moldova, a vote in which Viktor Orban abstained. Follow our live stream.
A new peak expected in 2024. Lhe 27 member countries of the European Union will meet again to discuss this aid to Ukraine. “I don’t want to go too far into the details, I will work in the coming days and weeks with my colleagues to prepare a summit for the beginning of next year”underlined the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on Friday.
“There are 26 of us who have given the green light.” The EU had planned to grant Ukraine aid comprising 33 billion euros in loans and 17 billion euros in donations over four years from 2024. “There are 26 countries that have given the green light. There is no agreement with Hungary at the moment, but I am confident that we will achieve it next year”declared Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. “Overnight summary: veto for additional funds to Ukraine” as for the project to revise the European budget, for his part commented Viktor Orban on X (ex-Twitter).
Agreement on the opening of accession negotiations. EU leaders also decided on Thursday to open accession negotiations with Ukraine, despite the stated opposition of the same Viktor Orban who ultimately did not use his right of veto on this. subject. “This is a victory for Ukraine, for all of Europe, a victory that motivates, inspires and strengthens”immediately reacted the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
New sanctions against Russia. The European Union approved a new package of sanctions against Moscow, including banning imports of Russian diamonds into the EU and also improving the effectiveness of sanctions on Russian oil. This is the 12th package of sanctions since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.