Hungary open to using EU budget for Ukraine aid package

By Anita Komuves and Jan Strupczewski

BUDAPEST/BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Hungary signalled its readiness on Monday for a compromise allowing a proposed European Union aid package for Ukraine to be financed from the bloc's budget ahead of an emergency summit on Thursday.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been a vocal critic of the EU's financial and military support for Kyiv and maintained close ties with the Kremlin since Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.

He previously blocked a revision of the EU budget that included the Ukraine aid, prompting its leaders to come up with a plan B and call an emergency summit.

However, in a big shift, Orban's political director said on Monday that Hungary was open to using the EU budget for a proposed 50 billion euro ($54 billion) aid package to Ukraine.

The aide, Balazs Orban, confirmed on X that Budapest had sent a proposal to Brussels on Saturday showing it was open to using the EU budget for the aid package and issuing common EU debt to finance it if other "caveats" were added.

The Financial Times cited an EU document on Sunday saying the bloc would sabotage Hungary's economy if Budapest blocks the aid at a summit this week.

"The document, drafted by Brussels bureaucrats, only confirms what the Hungarian Government has been saying for a long time: access to EU funds is used for political blackmailing by Brussels," Janos Boka, Hungary's EU affairs minister, said on X.

EU DENIES COERCION

A senior European Union official denied on Monday that member states were discussing financial coercion to force Hungary to agree to financing for Ukraine.

The document cited by the Financial Times was a background note that "does not outline any specific plan," the official said in a statement.

In case Hungary did not agree to the original aid package, EU leaders had proposed a workaround that involved a deal between 26 members and Ukraine, which would also deny Budapest access to linked EU funds, such as on migration.

The EU has suspended a large chunk of funds for Hungary over concerns Budapest had damaged democratic checks and balances in the country. The EU unlocked some of those funds at the end of last year saying Budapest had implemented a reform of its judiciary but about 20 billion euros still remain frozen.

Earlier on Monday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto arrived in western Ukraine to meet his Ukrainian counterpart to prepare a possible meeting between Orban and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

($1 = 0.9219 euros)

(Reporting by Anita Komuves, Editing by Toby Chopra and Andrew Cawthorne)