EU Counterparts Warn Hungary Not to Neglect Ukraine Aid

EU finance ministers chastised Hungary Tuesday, warning Budapest during angry exchanges in Brussels that aid to Ukraine must remain a priority during its presidency of the bloc. 

Hungary has left its EU counterparts seething after Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Russia's Vladimir Putin this month.

Brussels already hit back Monday at Budapest by saying that top European Commission officials will not travel to the country for meetings during its six-month EU presidency. 

The anger was still bubbling as some 20 finance ministers slammed Budapest at their regular meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. 

“I'm both angry and quite sad about the start of the Hungarian presidency,” said Swedish Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson. 

“That Mr. Orban went to Putin and Moscow is an insult not only to Ukraine but to all other 26 member states.”

German minister Christian Lindner said that Hungary's presidency – which started on July 1 – had kicked off with “freelance diplomacy that was greeted with great disappointment.”

“In Ukraine, the peace and freedom of the whole of Europe are being defended. Hungary should know who its real friends are,” he said.

Orban – the Kremlin's closest ally in the EU – enraged his fellow leaders by jetting to Moscow on July 5, as part of a what he described as a “peace mission” over the war in Ukraine. 

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The nationalist leader's trips also took him to Kyiv, Beijing and to America to visit former US president Donald Trump in Florida. 

Hungary’s EU counterparts were infuriated that Orban appeared to use the position of the EU's rotating presidency to add weight to his overseas trips.

The six-month presidency – which sees the holder chair ministerial meetings and steer the agenda – passes between the EU's member states and does not mean the holder represents the entire bloc. 

Hungary's Finance Minister Mihaly Varga on Tuesday presented to his counterparts Budapest's seven priorities during it time at the helm. 

But maintaining the 27-nation bloc's strong support for Ukraine was noticeably not on the list – drawing criticism from others.

“We stay strongest when we're united especially on our support to Ukraine and this has to stay on the top of our agenda,” said Dutch minister Eelco Heinen.

Varga in response said only that Hungary was “ready to ensure the opportunity for a regular exchange of views on the economic and financial impact of the war in Ukraine.”

The EU has staunchly opposed Russia's war, slapping 14 rounds of unprecedented sanctions on Moscow and giving Ukraine tens of billions of euros in assistance.  

But Hungary has repeatedly stalled the efforts to punish the Kremlin and to aid Ukraine in its fight against the invading forces.