Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 minutes takes stock for you every evening at 7:30 p.m. Between the strong declarations, the advances on the front and the results of the battles, here are the main points of the day.
The fact of the day
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called this Friday for the lifting, from January, of the blockage of 50 billion euros of aid from the European Union to Ukraine due to the veto of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (read lower). “We expect all necessary legal procedures to be completed by January 2024, which would allow us to receive the funds in question as soon as possible,” the ministry said in a statement.
In his speech broadcast on social networks, President Volodymyr Zelensky was combative. “We will do everything in our power to make Ukraine strong and ensure that next year we can all be confident: confident in defense support, macrofinance support and political support “, he assured. For its part, the Kremlin considered that Hungary was “defending” its interests, “unlike many European countries” and that the accession of Ukraine and Moldova would destabilize the EU.
Sentence of the day
I expect from Viktor Orban in the coming months that, being respected, his legitimate interests being taken into account, he will behave like a European and not take our political progress hostage. »
These are the words of Emmanuel Macron, spoken at the end of a European summit in Brussels. “Hungary was respected during this Council, it has a voice carried by its Prime Minister, it defends its interests (…) This respect implies responsibilities,” insisted the French president during a press conference.
The number of the day
26. This is the number of people who were injured after a local official detonated grenades during a municipal meeting in Keretsky in the Zakarpattia region (western Ukraine). The authorities have opened a terrorism investigation. Among the 26 people injured, six are in serious condition.
Today’s trend
A big Hungarian show for more European funds? Once again, Viktor Orban thundered during the crucial summit on Ukraine, brandishing threats of blockage and opportunistic vetoes. On Friday, the Hungarian Prime Minister made any lifting of the veto conditional on the payment of “all of the European funds” to Hungary still blocked, i.e. 21 billion euros, due to the situation of the rule of law in this country.
For international expert François Heisbourg, who sums up out loud what many are thinking, the Hungarian leader is engaging in “ransom”: “he wants to continue to ‘milk the Brussels cow’ and how difficult it had become with all procedures concerning the rule of law, he does so through the threat of blocking major decisions. »
“In the event of disagreement with its allies, blackmail is in fact its only tool” but it is not necessarily “a profitable strategy”, considers Daniel Hegedus, researcher at the German Marshall Fund think tank. “But on Thursday he gave in” on Ukraine’s accession, notes a European diplomat. In the same way, he has never stood in the way of European sanctions against Russia since the start of the war, “despite what is said of his closeness to Vladimir Putin”.
For Daniel Deak, researcher at the pro-government Hungarian Institute of the 21st Century, Hungary is however “not alone” on Ukraine. Several major countries approve of his position “without daring to say it openly due to pressure from the United States and the media.”