The European Commission is ready to concede to some of Hungary's demands in order to secure a €50 billion support package for Ukraine.
Source. This was reported by the Financial Times, citing senior officials.
In December, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed this EU aid package. This issue becomes even more urgent given the deadlock in the US Congress, which also fails to resolve the issue of military aid to Kyiv.
To persuade Orban to override his veto, the commission is ready to give the Hungarian prime minister the option of stopping the funding deal in 2025, three officials familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.
As part of a potential deal, the EU would agree to include a review of the four-year support package next year, when it could assess whether Ukraine needs the entire amount and whether Kyiv has met the requirements for EU assistance.
This would allow Orban to veto its extension, the newspaper writes.
The Commission is also ready, according to the FT, to agree to annual inspections and the inclusion of an "emergency brake" clause, according to which any country can express concerns about aid to Ukraine.
When asked whether this would be enough for Orban to override the veto, the official told the newspaper:
"I'm still not sure, but most likely yes."
The Hungarians are "ready to negotiate," another source said.
In December, Brussels unblocked €10 billion in EU funding for Hungary, which had previously been frozen over concerns about the rule of law, the newspaper recalls. Thus, these are not the first concessions that the European Commission is ready to make.
The idea of a clause to review aid to Kyiv was first proposed by Hungary in October, but other EU leaders were against it.
Background. As a reminder, Hungary blocked EU aid to Ukraine, but did not prevent the start of negotiations on Ukraine's EU membership.