Hungary refuses to support European Council conclusions on Ukraine due to its strategic interests
Hungary has refused to support the European Council conclusions on aid to Ukraine, including the initiative of EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on military support, stating that it "is against its strategic interests".
As it stands, Hungary is not in a position to support the part on the European Council conclusion on Ukraine in general, including the part that refers to Kaya Kallas' initiative on Ukraine.
Hungary’s Minister for EU Affairs János Bóka emphasised before the General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels that the part of the draft European Council conclusions concerning Ukraine does not align with Hungary’s strategic vision for European security.
"The part on Ukraine, in several points, is against the strategic interests and the strategic vision of Hungary on how to create a new European security architecture," he added.
Bóka stated that "Hungary is not in a position to support the conclusions on Ukraine in its present form."
"It is very unlikely that we will find a new 27 consensus on any text. I think it is most likely that the scenario on March 6 will be repeated, where the conclusions will only refer to a discussion on Ukraine, and there will be another text supported by a strong majority of EU member states," Bóka emphasised.
Earlier, European Pravda sources reported that in closed negotiations on the text of the European Council conclusions for 20-21 March, Hungary once again demanded the removal of references to support for Ukraine.
The day before, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas confirmed that the EU aims to provide €40 billion in military aid to Ukraine, with the corresponding proposal on the agenda of the European Council meeting on 20 March, and its support should be reflected in the summit conclusions.
On 6 March, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán refused to sign the conclusions of the extraordinary European Council meeting on support for Ukraine, resulting in a text being agreed upon by 26 out of the 27 EU member states.