EU leaders meet in Brussels with one single mission: make Viktor Orbán lift his veto on Ukraine aid

euronews (in English)

Brussels is on Thursday set to be the scene of a momentous summit where European Union leaders will plead with Viktor Orbán to lift his intractable veto on a €50-billion special fund for Ukraine.

Transcript

00:00 The European Union has stepped up pressure on Hungary ahead of the High Stakes Summit

00:06 on Thursday to agree on four years worth of 50 billion euros of aid to Ukraine.

00:11 In the last European Council meeting in December, Hungary vetoed the initiative.

00:16 Now many member states have lost patience with Viktor Orban systematically misusing

00:21 his veto power.

00:22 Now they are ready to act.

00:25 We have never seen such an isolation for a new member state against other new member

00:33 states and it really seems to be a test for the European Union on how much it can handle

00:41 its internal disagreements.

00:46 Now EU institutions and member states are trying desperately to find solutions.

00:51 Simple alternatives could be financing KIV outside of the EU's budget with the remaining

00:56 26 countries.

00:58 Other countries are demanding that the EU strips Hungary of its voting rights by stepping

01:02 up the so-called Article 7 process, a sanctions regime already in place against Budapest because

01:08 of democratic backsliding.

01:12 We shall see whether the leaders will have enough patience to negotiate with Viktor Orban

01:20 or whether they will undertake this new way by using of Article 7, but it's just a speculation.

01:29 Hungary earlier signaled it would be open to an agreement if the EU would allow an annual

01:33 check-up on the Ukraine package.

01:36 This was rejected by other countries.

01:38 Budapest also demanded more of the EU funds for Hungary be unfrozen.

01:43 The funds in total make up 20 billion euros.

01:47 Orban still has a kind of transactional logic, which means that if he receives good offers,

01:56 it means that he can abandon his vetoism and obstructivist approach in the decision-making

02:04 process, but I don't think it can solve the long-term problem.

02:08 And the long-term problem seems to be that the legal system and political system of Hungary

02:15 seems to be unfit to the institutional structures and the values of the European Union.

02:24 Ukraine desperately needs EU aid to continue its defense against Russia's aggression.

02:29 It is also dealing with the fact US aid for Kyiv is also currently being blocked by Congress.

02:34 [Whoosh]

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