In a radio interview, Orbán admitted that Ukraine needs help providing basic services to citizens, but stressed that he would block the EU’s plan for a joint loan to finance the aid.
“The question is how to help Ukraine,” Orbán said.
“One suggestion is that we should use the budgets of EU member states to jointly take out new loans and use this money for Ukraine. We do not support this, because we do not want the European Union to become a community of indebted countries, rather than a community of member states working together,” Orban explained.
He proposed that each EU member state provide assistance to Ukraine from its own budget by concluding bilateral agreements.
“We will not accept the second plan, we will not accept it, it will not be implemented without us,” the Hungarian prime minister underlined.
Orbán previously hinted that Hungary would be ready to give Ukraine 60 to 70 billion forints (145 to 170 million euros) from its budget on bilateral terms. He added that this amount would not significantly harm Hungary’s national interests.
The aid program for Ukraine is one of the EU’s priorities, which Hungary has blocked in recent months. Several officials in Brussels suggest that Hungary is using its veto power to get the EU to release billions of euros in funding that has been withheld from Hungary on grounds of rule of law and corruption.
The European Commission (EC) announced on Wednesday it would continue to recommend freezing €7.5 billion intended for Hungary until it implements reforms, including protecting EU funding from corruption and boosting independence of the judiciary.
The EU has until 27 December to take a decision on the EC proposal.
The Hungarian government has shown its readiness to implement the necessary reforms to access much-needed EU funding. Meanwhile, on other issues, Hungary still does not want to make concessions to Brussels.
Orbán on Friday condemned EU sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and blamed the sanctions on high inflation.
Hungary is also hesitant to ratify the accession protocols of Finland and Sweden to NATO. Only Turkey is still reluctant to give the go-ahead for the two Nordic countries to join the alliance. All other NATO members have already ratified these protocols.
Last week, Orbán promised that the Hungarian parliament would ratify them next year.
Hungary’s government has also opposed EU efforts to adopt a minimum corporate tax of 15%, which requires the unanimous support of bloc member states. Orbán said Friday he would continue to block the measure, calling it a “job-destroying tax hike” that “would lead to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.” We cannot afford that in Hungary, Orbán stressed.
Hungary’s economy is heavily dependent on foreign investment, particularly from German automakers, which it has attracted with a low corporate tax rate of 9%.
