©(Roman PILIPEY, AFP)
European Union leaders voted to open accession negotiations with Ukraine on Thursday, December 15. However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a prominent supporter of Moscow, has threatened to block the aid promised to Kiev.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed the European Union earmarking 50 billion euros ($54 billion) over four years for Ukraine, as the country battles Russia's invading army.
However, on Thursday, when the EU leaders discussed opening accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova, Orban agreed to leave the room so that his colleagues could approve the plan by consensus and not face a Hungarian veto.
Moscow slammed the move.
Hungary under Orban is Russia's best friend in the EU, and Moscow sees the country as one of its only allies inside the bloc.
Orban, in an interview with Hungarian state radio, linked the planned EU money for Ukraine to tens of billions of euros that Brussels has frozen for Hungary because of democratic backsliding and corruption concerns.
Faced with Orban's intransigence, the other EU leaders agreed to revisit the matter in another summit early next year.
Irish premier Leo Varadkar said the blocked discussion was "disappointing" but "there are workarounds" if Hungary continues to dig its heels in.
The other 26 countries could stump up the Ukraine aid money anyway, on a bilateral basis, he said, though the preference was to make it an EU package.
Kyiv is urgently trying to change the narrative that backing from its Western allies is waning as doubts swirl over support from the United States.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who did not attend the knife-edge summit, called the membership talks decision "a victory that motivates, inspires and strengthens."
The White House—which faces opposition from US Republicans to support for Ukraine—hailed the "historic decision."
The agreement to open membership negotiations with Kyiv does not mean that Ukraine will be joining the EU any time soon.
Before the talks can be launched, EU states must agree on a negotiating framework—giving Orban ample opportunity to stall the process again.
In what some saw as a last-minute concession to coax Hungary, the European Commission agreed on Wednesday to unblock 10 billion euros of cash for Budapest that it has frozen. Another 21 billion euros remains out of Orban's grasp.
Orban's absence from the accession talks raised alarm bells for some EU leaders, worried such tactics could be replicated in future thorny discussions, weakening bloc unity.
"I think a negative precedent is being set," said Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.
Malo Pinatel, with AFP
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed the European Union earmarking 50 billion euros ($54 billion) over four years for Ukraine, as the country battles Russia's invading army.
However, on Thursday, when the EU leaders discussed opening accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova, Orban agreed to leave the room so that his colleagues could approve the plan by consensus and not face a Hungarian veto.
Moscow slammed the move.
Hungary under Orban is Russia's best friend in the EU, and Moscow sees the country as one of its only allies inside the bloc.
Orban, in an interview with Hungarian state radio, linked the planned EU money for Ukraine to tens of billions of euros that Brussels has frozen for Hungary because of democratic backsliding and corruption concerns.
'Workarounds'
Faced with Orban's intransigence, the other EU leaders agreed to revisit the matter in another summit early next year.
Irish premier Leo Varadkar said the blocked discussion was "disappointing" but "there are workarounds" if Hungary continues to dig its heels in.
The other 26 countries could stump up the Ukraine aid money anyway, on a bilateral basis, he said, though the preference was to make it an EU package.
Kyiv is urgently trying to change the narrative that backing from its Western allies is waning as doubts swirl over support from the United States.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who did not attend the knife-edge summit, called the membership talks decision "a victory that motivates, inspires and strengthens."
The White House—which faces opposition from US Republicans to support for Ukraine—hailed the "historic decision."
EU Unity Tested
The agreement to open membership negotiations with Kyiv does not mean that Ukraine will be joining the EU any time soon.
Before the talks can be launched, EU states must agree on a negotiating framework—giving Orban ample opportunity to stall the process again.
In what some saw as a last-minute concession to coax Hungary, the European Commission agreed on Wednesday to unblock 10 billion euros of cash for Budapest that it has frozen. Another 21 billion euros remains out of Orban's grasp.
Orban's absence from the accession talks raised alarm bells for some EU leaders, worried such tactics could be replicated in future thorny discussions, weakening bloc unity.
"I think a negative precedent is being set," said Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.
Malo Pinatel, with AFP
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