EU should not agree Ukraine aid for 5 years all at once - Orban

BERLIN. Dec 21 (Interfax) - The European Union's idea to allocate financial assistance for Ukraine lasting for five years is pointless, because it is unclear how events will evolve in Ukraine in that period, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday.

"Hungary's position is that, if we want to allocate money for Ukraine, we should not agree a five-year sum right away, because we have no idea what might happen even in the next three months," Orban told his annual press conference in Budapest.

Hungary is in favour of Ukraine being paid not from the EU budget, but by those EU members which are prepared to take part in such assistance, Orban said. In addition, Brussels should not tie aid for Ukraine with the European Commission's freezing of funding for Hungary, he said.

In seeking Budapest's consent to a five-year assistance plan for Kiev, the EU is "effectively blackmailing" Hungary, using the blocked funds meant for Hungary to that end, he said.

On Monday, European Council President Charles Michel said the EU planned to hold a summit on February 1 to consider, among other things, allocating assistance to Ukraine. The summit will discuss a long-term EU budget that includes assistance for Ukraine, Michel said.

Previously, EU leaders, having failed to reach consensus on a review of a long-term budget which includes aid for Ukraine, decided to revisit the issue at the beginning of 2024. Orban confirmed on X that he had blocked an allocation of funding for Ukraine.

"We will come back to the issue next year at the European Council summit after proper preparation," Orban said.