EU nations need to win over Hungary for summit support on Ukraine

By Gabriela Baczynska and Krisztina Than

BRUSSELS/BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Hungary appeared on a collision course on Wednesday with fellow European Union members over Ukraine's bid to join the wealthy bloc, a dispute that could hold up Kyiv's membership drive and was set to overshadow an EU summit.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban reaffirmed his opposition to offering neighbouring Ukraine fast-track accession at this week's summit, saying to parliament this would not serve the interests of Hungary or the 27-member EU.

With both sides digging in their heels, Ukraine's hopes of securing much-needed financial and military assistance to fight Russian invasion forces hung in the balance.

"Our stance is clear. We do not support Ukraine's quick EU entry," Orban, a conservative nationalist who is Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in the EU, said in a post on Facebook.

Orban and fellow EU leaders began arriving in Brussels late on Wednesday for the summit which formally opens on Thursday.

Orban has threatened to block proposals to allow Kyiv to start accession talks and to receive substantial financial and military aid from the EU budget.

Kyiv wants to join the EU and build alliances with the West as it distances itself further from former fellow Soviet republic Russia, while 50 billion euros ($54 billion) of economic support and 20 billion euros for Ukraine's military would be vital for its war effort.

Speaking in Brussels, new Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called Orban a "very pragmatic politician" and said he would seek to find a way to win him over.

"Apathy on Ukraine is unacceptable," Tusk said, adding that he will try to convince "some member states" of the need to help the country.

In an apparent rebuke to Hungary, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier said there needed to be more decision-taking by qualified majority in the EU to prevent single nations from having a veto on issues such as accession.

"National parliaments would still have the final say, but a single country would no longer be able to block every single step," he told German lawmakers.

UKRAINE'S CONCERNS

In a move likely to ease tensions, the European Union executive unlocked Budapest's access to 10 billion euros of funding previously frozen over concerns Orban had damaged democratic checks and balances.

Ukraine is worried that Western military support may be dwindling nearly two years after Russia's full-scale invasion, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Washington this week to try to press Kyiv's case for more aid.

He said during a visit to Oslo that Kyiv had done what was asked of it on the path to EU accession talks, and that Hungary had no reason to block Ukraine's accession drive.

"From our side we have been very constructive. We have done absolutely everything, we completed the recommendations of the European Union," Zelenskiy said.

A senior EU diplomat said that a way would be found to get funding to Ukraine and circumvent any block from Hungary.

"One way or another, we will find the way to give Ukraine money. There are various options," the diplomat said, including a possible side deal by 26 EU members outside the bloc's main budget framework.

($1 = 0.9273 euros)

(Reporting by Krisztina Than in Budapest and Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels; Additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels, Gergely Szakacs in Budapest, Max Hunder in Kyiv and Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo; Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Mark Heinrich and Daniel Wallis)