EU does not have fatigue from Ukraine but it does from Orbán – Polish PM

Thursday, 1 February 2024

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that his intuition tells him that EU countries will eventually find arguments to convince Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to unblock €50 billion in funding for Ukraine.

"There is no so-called problem of fatigue from Ukraine, but there is a problem of fatigue from Viktor Orbán. We have so many problems to solve, and of course, we need to strengthen our unity around Ukraine today," Tusk said in a comment to journalists before a special summit in Brussels.

The Polish PM added that he could not understand and accept this "very strange" and "very selfish game" from Orbán. He added that there is no room for compromise on the Ukrainian issue.

"It is up to Viktor Orbán to decide whether Hungary is part of our community or not. This is a black-and-white story. My intuition tells me that we will find some strong arguments to eventually convince Orban," Tusk said.

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He also said that in the medium term, "we should think more, perhaps not about tough measures, but about clearer consequences" for Hungary.

"The Ukrainian matter is an existential issue not only for Poland, but for all of us, and Viktor's position today is about security. This is something so obvious and at the same time unacceptable, so we have to think about all possible measures and all possible consequences in the future, but maybe not today," Tusk concluded.

Orbán confirmed that last Saturday, Budapest sent a compromise agreement to Brussels to unblock €50 billion in EU funding for Ukraine.

Orbán said the compromise means that funding will be allocated to Ukraine on the condition that "you guarantee that every year we will decide whether we will continue to send this money or not". In short, this means that Hungary can block aid every year.

According to media reports, EU leaders will propose that the idea of holding annual discussions on the planned €50 billion aid package for Ukraine be included in the EU summit decision to secure Hungary's support in approving the allocation of funds.

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