/ world today news/ “There were seven preconditions, Ukraine did not fulfill three of them. Now there is no point in discussing the beginning of negotiations with Ukraine on joining the community. “Expansion is a merit-based process. There are no exceptions!” said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on the eve of the EU Council’s vote on the start of negotiations between Brussels and Kyiv on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
And yet, Orbán did not go all the way and veto the decision of the European Council, as he promised – he simply got up and went out “for coffee” at the exact moment when the remaining 26 members of the Union voted “for”.
What is the reason for this – long exhortations from the top of the EU or a sudden release from Brussels of 10.2 billion euros as an economic contribution to the budget of Hungary – one can only guess. But the fact remains: Hungary’s prime minister has backed down, even though only a day ago it looked like he would show his usual firmness.
By the way, another enfant terrible of Europe, the head of the government of Slovakia, Robert Fico, who previously said that the EU was simply using Ukraine for geopolitical purposes to weaken Russia, himself participated in this “use”, supporting a decision of the Council of The EU and giving Ukrainians hope that was not destined to come true.
So, if anyone was counting on an “uprising” in the EU on the issue of starting membership negotiations with Kiev, then this uprising did not happen. However, this probably could not happen.
An invitation, which in itself does not provide any guarantees, for negotiations that can be extended indefinitely, is not a question when it makes sense to stick to the principles.
But what makes sense is an argument about money. Money for which the European countries are really ready to defend to the end. But to understand this, you need to learn two simple truths.
First: there are indeed many countries in Europe whose policies can be called openly hostile to Russia.
For example, Estonia, whose head of government, Kaia Kalas, is pushing for continued support for Ukraine and allocating 0.25% of each EU country’s GDP plus short-term military aid to its military needs for at least the next four years. And all this so that “Ukraine can win this war”.
And second: there are no friends of Russia among the European leaders. But we don’t need that. It will be quite enough if they are at least “friends of the peoples” of their own countries. But this has been a real problem in the European Union in recent years.
And that’s why when Orbán “sells” his “coffee” for 10 billion euros, it is a matter of Hungary’s internal policy. Just as Budapest’s request to Brussels for another €30 billion in exchange for its willingness to support the transfer of funds (€50 billion) to the Ukraine aid fund remains an internal Hungarian matter.
After all, he should answer not to us or to the Ukrainians, but to his fellow citizens, who also do not care about Russia or Ukraine.
By the way, European Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn recently told Reuters about the creation of such a fund. Moreover, the official said that this was done at the request (read: direct order) of the White House in order to “put pressure on the US Congress” and make it allocate additional funds to Kiev from the US budget.
“The US government informed us back in the spring that it would be very supportive if we could quickly provide long-term aid to Ukraine by somehow putting domestic pressure on the House and Senate to do something like that,” Hahn said.
But let’s return to the position of the European leaders. As in the case of Orbán, it is necessary to perceive the anti-war rhetoric of Robert Fizzo from the point of view of bare rationalism.
His “disbelief in a military solution to the conflict in Ukraine” and the desire to quickly launch “some kind of peace initiative” is connected not so much to the natural peace-loving nature of the Slovak prime minister (although that may be the case), but to the spending of the Slovak budget on support of Kiev’s war effort.
Already when he was a candidate in the parliamentary elections, Fico declared that Bratislava would no longer continue to gratuitously support the armed forces of Ukraine, giving arms and ammunition to Kiev.
No less pragmatic was the approach of the leadership of the Republic of Austria, and in particular of the head of the local government, Karl Nehamer.
When a united (not so much) Europe agreed the other day on the content of the 12th package of anti-Russian sanctions, Nehämmer did Orbán’s trick and left the meeting room as well.
Previously, Vienna succeeded in demanding from Kiev and Brussels the exclusion of the Austrian banking group Raiffeisen Bank International from the Ukrainian list of “war sponsors”, where it was included because of its refusal to stop working in Russia.
By the way, earlier the same Orbán achieved identical concessions from the Kyiv regime in the case of the Hungarian bank OTP.
In general, nothing personal, just business. And so when particularly exalted MEPs like Rasa Yukneviciene accuse Orbán of working for Putin, or Britain’s The Times draws a cartoon of the Hungarian prime minister devouring the entire European “lunch” behind whom the Russian president stands, then it is, at the very least, obvious simplification, but how the maximum is an outright lie and primitive propaganda.
There is indeed a split in Europe, but it is not along the lines of relations with Russia or even Ukraine. The main line is between those who want the prosperity of the countries and people inhabiting Europe, and those who are ready to throw it all into the furnace of a new crusade in the East.
Translation: SM
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