EU Breaks Deadlock on Aid for Ukraine After Orban Caves

(Bloomberg News/TNS) — European Union leaders struck a deal as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban yielded to their demands to lift his veto on a €50 billion ($54 billion) financial aid package for Ukraine.

“This locks in steadfast, long-term, predictable funding for Ukraine,” European Council President Charles Michel said in announcing the deal in a post on social media on Thursday. 

As part of the accord, the member states agreed to debate the implementation of the Ukraine aid package every year and, “if needed,” the European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, could be asked to propose a review in two years, according to a draft document seen by Bloomberg News. The Hungarian leader’s demand for a veto was dropped. 

The agreement was salvaged in a morning gathering Orban had with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to people familiar with the meeting. Leaders at the extraordinary summit — some of whom accused Orban of “blackmail” — had braced for a deadlock after weeks of negotiations produced no result. 

The moment is crucial for Ukraine, which has warned that its coffers are emptying as it grapples with a shortage of weapons to fend off the Russian military campaign. Kyiv is still awaiting $61 billion in assistance from the U.S., yet to be backed by Congress, amid disagreements over Republican efforts to tie the funding to border-security measures.

Thursday’s breakthrough avoided a messy split within the EU, papering over mounting concern that Western support for Kyiv is splintering. It also marks a significant boost for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Failure would have dealt Kyiv a severe blow and fueled doubts about the commitment of its allies.

Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal welcomed the deal, saying the EU showed “solidarity and unity.” 

The agreement hinged on Orban, who angered his counterparts in the 27-member bloc by stonewalling a pillar of Europe’s security strategy aimed at containing Russian President Vladimir Putin. EU leaders made little effort to veil their frustration at the 60-year-old Hungarian leader. 

“Viktor definitely wants to be the center of attention every time we’re here, but it shouldn’t be like this,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told reporters earlier Thursday. “I don’t want to use the word ‘blackmail,’ but I don’t know a better word.”

Ukraine’s weapons inventories are diminishing as Russia’s invasion heads into a third year. Reports from the frontlines suggest Ukraine is struggling to hold Russian forces back, while an ugly dispute has broken out between Zelensky and his commander-in-chief, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, heightening the sense of crisis in Kyiv. 

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov sent a sharp warning to his EU counterparts this week that his country’s forces are now outgunned three to one by the Russians. In a letter seen by Bloomberg, he added that Kyiv needs at least 6,000 artillery rounds daily, but is unable to shoot more than 2,000 shells along a 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) front. 

Orban’s decision to drop the veto demand came after mounting pressure, including on Sweden’s bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, where Hungary is the sole holdout in the military alliance. Orban may meet Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on the sidelines of the meeting as NATO seeks to move forward the accession bid. 

The EU is still withholding two-thirds of the more than €30 billion in EU funding for Hungary on rule-of-law and graft concerns. Continued obstructionism also threatened to jeopardize Hungary’s rotating EU presidency from July and potentially scupper the bloc’s agenda in the second half. 

Adding to the tense atmosphere inside the EU’s summit are protests by farmers, who staged a demonstration nearby — with Brussels’ city center full of tractors parked near EU institutions — to protest the bloc’s green policies and trade liberalization measures. 

Some of the protests, which have spread across Europe over the past months, have been supported by organizations with ties to Orban.