Hungary demands that Ukraine exclude a Hungarian bank from the list of "war sponsors" in exchange for a new tranche of EU aid
Budapest intends to block possible new EU sanctions against russia for the same reason
Hungary announced on Wednesday that it has blocked the next tranche of EU military aid to Ukraine because Kyiv has not yet agreed to remove the Hungarian bank OTP from the list of war sponsors.
Source. This was reported by the BBC.
"We cannot give the green light to this tranche while OTP remains on the blacklist," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday, adding that Hungary intends to block possible new EU sanctions against russia for the same reason.
The European Union provides military assistance to Ukraine through the European Peace Facility (EPF), an EU extra-budgetary instrument established in 2021 to prevent conflicts, maintain peace and strengthen international security.
In total, the European Union has already provided about €3.6 billion to Ukraine under this fund.
Hungary, as a member of the EU and NATO, still refuses to supply Ukraine with weapons and has repeatedly criticized sanctions against moscow, but it has so far agreed to the allocation of funds to Ukraine.
However, on Tuesday, it unexpectedly blocked the allocation of the eighth tranche of military aid to Ukraine, worth 500 million euros. The aid was to be disbursed next Monday.
"Hungary does not agree with the fact that the European Union, along with other available instruments, uses the European Peace Fund exclusively to support Ukraine, as this does not allow for sufficient funds to be allocated to promote EU interests in other areas," the Hungarian government's press service said.
In particular, Budapest demands guarantees that the money from the EPF will not be spent solely on the purchase of weapons for Ukraine, but will be directed to other regions that need funds, such as the Balkans and North Africa.
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