European Union leaders head into a high-stakes summit for Ukraine on Thursday, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blocking both the start of EU membership talks and 50 billion euros in financial aid for Kyiv, according to Reuters.
The summit comes at a crucial time in Ukraine’s war against Russia’s invasion, after a counter-offensive failed to make major gains and with the Biden administration so far unable to get a $60 billion aid package for Kyiv through Congress.
Officials and diplomats said they were braced for a tough series of meetings that could go late into Friday night or even into the weekend.
If EU leaders give the green light to membership talks and the four-year financial package, Kyiv will be able to claim a geopolitical victory. Failure to agree would likely be greeted by Moscow as a sign of faltering Western support for Ukraine.
All of the EU’s 27 national leaders except Orban have backed the start of accession talks. But such a decision requires unanimity and the Hungarian, who cultivates close ties to Moscow, has insisted Ukraine is not ready for such a step.
On the eve of the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country had carried out the necessary political reforms to get the go-ahead and urged the EU to honour its commitments.
“I count on EU leaders recognizing Ukraine’s efforts and taking this historic step,” he said on social media. “Ukraine fulfilled its part and proved that it can achieve tremendous results despite unprecedented challenges.”
As a sign of intense diplomatic efforts on the matter, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were set to meet in the morning with Orban ahead of the summit, alongside European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and Council chief Charles Michel.
Orban has cited corruption in Ukraine and other concerns in justifying his stance. But EU officials and diplomats suspect he is using the issue as a bargaining chip, hoping to obtain funds frozen by the EU over concerns about the rule of law in Hungary.
“We’re not in a Hungarian bazaar where we can exchange one thing for another,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Wednesday. “Ukraine is a country that wants to respect democratic values … Maybe a lesson for Orban himself.”
The European Commission, the EU executive body, on Wednesday restored Hungary’s access to up to 10.2 billion euros in refunds for economic projects after finding it had fulfilled conditions on the independence of its judiciary.
The Commission recommended last month that EU leaders agree to start accession talks with Ukraine. A second unanimous decision would still be needed – possibly in March – to agree on a negotiating framework.
New Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on the eve of the summit that his role would be to strengthen European determination to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. “Apathy on Ukraine is unacceptable,” Tusk said, adding that he would try to convince „some member states”.
Officials and diplomats said a compromise could involve a longer gap between the two decisions and language in the summit declaration on conditions to be fulfilled in the meantime.
Orban has also objected to a Commission proposal to give Ukraine 50 billion euros in grants and loans to keep the state running as part of a broader revision of the EU budget.
Such a revision also requires unanimity among EU governments, which would have to pay for it.
Officials say if Hungary sticks to its stance, the EU’s other members could set up financing outside the budget for Ukraine, but that would be more complex and expensive.
EU Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn told Reuters he thought Hungary would ultimately agree to the package as it contained cash for other projects that Budapest would benefit from.
“It is a package, it’s not only for Ukraine. There is something in it for migration, border protection, support of countries like Turkey, nowadays good friends of Hungary … to get also additional financial means,” Hahn said.