The European Commission recommended on Wednesday that €7.5 billion of EU funds be withheld from Hungary over rule of law concerns, according to media reports.
Hungary under the authoritarian rule of its current prime minister, Viktor Orban, has become Europe’s infant terrible and troublemaker. It its foreign relations, the EU and NATO member sometimes seem to pursue Moscow’s rather than Brussel’s policy, notably when it concerns Ukraine.
In a statement just a week ago, the Ukrainian World Congress quoted its president, Paul Grod, who stressed that the “EU must take punitive action such as cutting funding and suspending Hungary’s voting rights.” The UWC president pointed out that Orban demonstrates a “dangerous pattern of pro-Russian statements and decisions which clearly violate fundamental EU principles and legal norms. He continues to undermine the stability, security, and unity of Europe.”
“Since the full-scale escalation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Hungarian PM and his government have opposed the delivery of weapons to Ukraine; regularly visit Moscow; parrot anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western Russian narratives; attempt to break the EU’s sanction regime against Russia; and continuously attempt to block major EU aid packages for Ukraine,” the statement also reads.
