Hungary continues to block allocation of military aid tranche to Ukraine - Szijjarto
He demands guarantees from Kyiv that OTP bank will not be added to the list of "international sponsors of war" again
Hungary will block the disbursement of the next tranche of military aid to Ukraine under the European Peace Fund (EPF) until Kyiv provides "guarantees" that OTP Bank or other Hungarian firms will never be added to the list of "international sponsors of war" again.
Source. This was announced on Monday by the country's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.
The EPF, established in 2021, is intended to "finance actions to prevent conflict, build peace and strengthen international security."
Szijjártó posted a video from Brussels, where he said that Hungary faced "pressure" at the meeting to support the €500 million disbursement. Szijjártó said that Budapest could not provide its support without such guarantees.
In early October, Ukraine's National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) completely removed Hungary's OTP Bank from the register of international "war sponsors," as Budapest had previously insisted in exchange for "Hungary's unblocking of €500 million in vital EU military aid to Ukraine."
According to the NACP, the accusations against OTR Bank were based on the agency's belief that the bank's management was not going to curtail its activities in Russia and actually recognized the so-called "lnr" and "dnr."
Foreign Minister Peter Sijjarto had previously stated that the unblocking of 500 million would take place after the blockade was completely lifted.
Background. The day before, it was reported that Hungary would hold "consultations" with the population on Ukraine's membership in the EU – the country is playing along with Russian narratives and encouraging citizens to answer "no" to the main question of the consultations.
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