European Commission denies Hungary is able to block €50 billion in aid for Ukraine
Pravda Ukraine
Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner for Budget, said that Hungary alone will not be able to block the increase in the budget of the European Union, in particular, to allocate to Ukraine a package of €50 billion for four years.
Source: European Pravda with reference to EUobserver
Details: During an address to MEPs on Tuesday, Hahn dismissed media reports that the European Commission was allegedly discussing unfreezing some of the funds for Hungary in exchange for its support for the EU’s budget overhaul until 2027.
“We cannot be blackmailed,” the European Commissioner said.
He added that the European Commission has workarounds for approving the revised budget that do not need Hungary’s support.
The Commissioner said that they can find a solution that affects only 26 member states. According to Hahn, this may cause some delays, as it will be necessary to apply different measures, but Hann is convinced that the decision cannot be curtailed.
Background: Last December, the EU froze €22 billion from the Cohesion Fund allocated to Hungary. This happened after Brussels decided that Hungary did not comply with the rules for protecting human rights and the rule of law.
Last month, the Financial Times reported that the European Commission is preparing to allocate billions of euros to Hungary from EU funds, which are currently frozen due to problems with the rule of law in the country, to ensure Budapest’s support in increasing the EU budget and providing significant financial assistance to Ukraine.
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