"We reviewed the 28-point peace plan put forward by the Americans," Viktor Orbán concluded on Facebook after Monday's informal summit of EU heads of state and government, speaking from the Prime Minister's residence in the Budapest castle. After the hybrid meeting, which was partly organized via video link, he said: "I can say one thing for sure" – and then continued in the third person singular "the European Union [wants to] continue the war while not having a single penny to spend on military equipment." According to him, "there is not a single penny available to finance Ukraine's operations, and the EU has no idea how to get this money. The only idea is that the member states should chip in or “take out a joint loan.”
According to one option in a September EU proposal, Ukraine would be given a compensation loan of around €140 billion, using frozen Russian assets, but no agreement was reached at the latest EU summit, when 26 of the 27 leaders requested alternative options from the European Commission.
The Hungarian government keeps claiming that the body wants to send "Europeans' money" to Ukraine, based on last week's letter listing several alternatives to the compensation loan, such as voluntary contributions and a joint EU loan. In another instance, the Hungarian Foreign Minister failed to mention Russian assets at all and stated outright that "at the end of the day" the compensation loan would also be about sending Europeans' money to Ukraine, even though Orbán had previously emphasized that his government "will never be part of any decision that would take away other people's money." Tamás Menczer, Fidesz-KDNP's communications director also spoke on Monday without mentioning Russian assets or the request of the 26, saying that "Ursula von der Leyen is giving another €135 billion to Ukraine," but the Hungarian government does not support” indebting our children and grandchildren for Ukraine’s sake”.
In response to the letter sent at the request of the 26 leaders, Viktor Orbán wrote that he does not support the EU sending further financial aid to Ukraine "in any form." According to a Facebook post by Justice Minister Bence Tuzson, the Hungarian government "does not wish to participate in any financial operation and does not consent to such a decision being taken on behalf of and within the framework of the EU." In his opinion, Donald Trump's initiative should be supported “immediately and unconditionally.”
Even last week, the European Commission stated that a compensation loan using Russian assets would be the "clearest" way to help Ukraine, and on Monday it was indicated that work on the plan would continue despite Orbán's letter.
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