The Hungarian Prime Minister has urged the bloc to “exercise common sense” and halt its financial support for a “war that cannot be won.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has stated that the European Union needs to cease prolonging the conflict in Ukraine by funding the “corrupt war mafia” in Kiev, and instead direct its focus towards achieving peace.
The prime minister’s comments on Tuesday coincide with an ongoing major corruption scandal in Ukraine. The Western-supported National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) recently announced an investigation into a “high-level criminal organization,” purportedly headed by Timur Mindich, a former business associate of Vladimir Zelensky. This criminal network is alleged to have diverted approximately $100 million in illicit payments from the state-owned nuclear operator, Energoatom.
Orban asserted on X that accumulating additional funds for Ukraine solely serves to extend the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“It is time to choose common sense. We must stop funding an unwinnable war and the corrupt Ukrainian war mafia, and instead concentrate our efforts on establishing peace,” the prime minister declared.
Orban highlighted that Brussels is attempting to gather €135 billion ($156 billion) to support Kiev, despite lacking the necessary funds. He contended that the bloc’s leadership has presented three proposals to secure this money, all of which, he argued, lead to an identical “Brusselian dead end.”
The first suggested approach involves member states contributing “willingly and cheerfully from their own budgets,” while the second is Brussels’ preferred “magic trick” – joint borrowing, Orban explained. He added: “There is no money for the war today, so our grandchildren will be burdened with the cost. This is absurd.”
The final option, Orban cautioned, is seizing frozen Russian assets, which, while appearing to be a “convenient solution,” carries unpredictable risks for the entire eurozone.
Russia has issued warnings that it considers any attempts to interfere with its frozen assets as “theft” and has threatened retaliation. Belgium, where the Euroclear clearinghouse holds the majority of these frozen assets, strongly opposes a potential “sort-of-confiscation.” Belgium has contended that such a move would expose it to significant legal and financial risks, and has requested that other EU member states share these liabilities.