Hungary does not support the conclusions of the European Council regarding Ukraine due to its “own interests”

Hungary does not support the conclusions of the European Council regarding Ukraine due to its "own interests"

Hungary refused to support the conclusions of the European Council regarding aid to Ukraine, particularly the initiative of European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, for military support, stating that it “contradicts its strategic interests.”

Source: “European Pravda,” citing a statement from Hungary’s Minister for EU Affairs, János Bóka, before the start of the EU General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels.

Direct quote from the minister: “Hungary cannot support part of the European Council’s conclusions regarding Ukraine as a whole, including the one that concerns the initiative of Kaja Kallas on Ukraine.”

Details: Bóka emphasized that the section of the European Council’s draft conclusions concerning Ukraine does not align with Hungary’s strategic vision for European security.

“The section concerning Ukraine contradicts Hungary’s strategic interests and vision regarding how to build a new European security architecture,” he added.

According to the Hungarian minister, “Hungary cannot support the conclusions on Ukraine in their current form.”

“It is very unlikely that we will find a new consensus among the 27 EU member states on any text. I think that the most likely scenario is a repetition of March 6, when the conclusions will only mention the discussion about Ukraine, and there will be a different text supported by the overwhelming majority of EU member states,” emphasized Boka.

Reminder:

Earlier, sources from “EuroPravda” reported that in private negotiations on the text of the European Council conclusions for March 20-21, Hungary is once again demanding the exclusion of any mention of support for Ukraine.

The day before, EU’s chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, confirmed that the EU wants to provide military aid to Ukraine amounting to 40 billion euros – the corresponding proposal will be on the European Council’s agenda for March 20, and its support should be reflected in the summit’s conclusions.

On March 6, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban refused to sign the conclusions of the extraordinary European Council meeting regarding support for Ukraine. As a result, the text was agreed upon by 26 out of 27 EU member states.

Tetyana Vysotska, Stepan Haftko

Ukraine Front Lines