Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is a “Trojan horse” who undermines European unity and protects Russian interests, Czech European Affairs Minister Martin Dvořák said on Sunday, after Orban blocked financial aid to Ukraine at a European Council summit last year. week.This is the strongest show of divisiveness yet among the countries of the Visegrad Four, consisting of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.
“Today, Orbán is this Trojan horse who is intensively and unfortunately more and more effectively breaking this unity and trying to show that we should ignore Ukraine,” Dvořák said during a discussion broadcast by CNN Prime News on Sunday.
According to the Czech EU minister, Orbán is blackmailing Europe and abusing his right of veto.
During the meeting of European Council leaders, Orbán left the room, allowing the summit to approve the start of negotiations with Ukraine. However, he blocked the debate on the long-term revision of the EU budget, which includes around 50 billion euros in support of Ukraine.
Orban has faced criticism for allegedly using the Ukraine issue as leverage in an attempt to unlock access to EU funds that have been frozen amid accusations that the current Hungarian government is a threat to the country’s rule of law. Last week, the European Commission decided to unlock 10 billion euros after Hungary published judicial reforms. However, around 21 billion euros remain frozen.
“I think the real name (of the Hungarian approach) is blackmail. I think the real name is abuse of the right of veto not to protect the national interests of Hungary, but to protect the interests of Russia,” said the Czech minister.
Dvorak’s debating partner, Alena Shilerova of the opposition ANO party, refrained from commenting on Orbán’s criticism and questioned whether it was even appropriate for the topic of Ukraine’s accession talks to be included in the summit at this time. She indicated that Ukraine should take several steps for reforms, such as approving the judicial reform or the subsidy policy.
2023-12-18 07:51:38
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