EU accuses Orbán of blocking $50 billion aid to Ukraine to support Trump – Politico

Politico, citing informed sources, has reported that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán refuses to approve the extension of sanctions against Russia to help US presidential candidate Donald Trump. This will complicate the allocation of a US$50 billion loan to Ukraine from Russian frozen assets.

According to Politico, Hungary has recently decided not to approve the EU's decision, which is important for US participation in the G7 loan to Ukraine. The loan will be repaid from frozen Russian assets after the US presidential election.

Politico noted that Washington now insists that the EU should extend the sanctions for at least 36 months. 

Under current rules, EU sanctions must be extended every six months.

Although all other leaders support extending the sanctions extension period to 36 months, as requested by the US, Orbán refuses. 

According to the rules, any changes to the sanctions regime must be approved by all 27 member states.

"If we don’t work this out [by extending the sanctions duration] it will cost the EU – including Hungary – more money," said one anonymous EU diplomat.

The costs for European countries, including Hungary, would be higher than if the United States were also involved. However, as the article points out, this is a small price to pay for the Hungarian PM, and the advantage for him is that he will "buy the much-needed goodwill" of the Republican candidate.  

"They [Hungary] don’t care if Europe has to pay more. It’s about helping Trump," said a second EU diplomat.

If Brussels and Washington jointly agree to the loan, the Republican candidate, who may be re-elected, will be tied to it for a long time. But if the allocation of funds to Kyiv is approved without the US, Trump will not have such an obligation.

This refers to a US$50 billion loan plan for Ukraine agreed by the G7 leaders. The plan will be repaid from the profits from the investment of frozen Russian assets – so for Kyiv, it will be a loan without the need for repayment.

As part of the plan, the EU is to provide €35 billion, and the rest is to be provided by the other G7 countries. For the United States, it is important that the EU changes the period for reviewing and extending the sanctions from the current 6 months to a longer period to ensure that Russian assets remain frozen. 

The Hungarian blockade is related to this decision within the EU, not to the decision on the "European" part of the loan.

Read also: Kremlin billions for Ukraine's defence: three ways to make Russia pay even during the war