Blocking new aid

Hungary: Want to keep Ukraine down for Trump deal

The Ukrainian troops are under considerable pressure.(Bild: AP/Kostiantyn Liberov)

Hungary is blocking a proposal for a new EU package of military aid for Ukraine, which is under attack from Russia. The government in Budapest wants to prevent the Ukrainian position from being strengthened at the negotiating table.

This would prolong the war. This was announced by a spokesperson for Hungary's Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on the social network X on Thursday. Hungary would not support spending European taxpayers' money to prolong the war. Szijjártó also announced his intention to delay the decision on the extension of existing sanctions against Russia.

The EU's External Action Service had previously presented a proposal for additional military aid for Ukraine amounting to around six billion euros. As the German press agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur learned from EU circles, investments of 3.5 billion euros are considered necessary for the delivery of 1.5 million artillery shells. In addition, 500 million euros are to be made available for air defense systems and two billion euros for the equipment and training of two Ukrainian brigades.

EU foreign ministers meet on Monday
According to the Foreign Service, ideally there should actually be an agreement in principle on the plan at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday. However, until recently it was unclear which member states would support it and whether it could be implemented.

Financing is also considered problematic, as many EU states are heavily in debt. According to diplomats, the military aid package would probably have to be approved unanimously under EU rules even if individual member states did not want to participate.

It recently remained unclear why Szijjártó spoke of a planned aid package of 20 billion euros in his announcement. According to diplomats, the final figure was only six billion euros.

Szijjártó, on the other hand, explained Hungary's actions with the positioning of the new US President Donald Trump. His election had shifted world politics towards peace, but "pro-war" European liberals were trying to block his efforts, he criticized. According to a government spokesperson, Szijjártó was in Washington, where he met with Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.