Hungary on Tuesday lifted its objection to the European Union sending 18 billion euros ($19 billion) to Ukraine after reaching a deal with the EU on funds Brussels wants to deny Budapest.
The EU was looking to block 7.5 billion euros in EU funding from Hungary over allegations of corruption that were raised after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban won reelection in April.
Under the agreement reached this week, the EU will free up 1.2 billion euros for Hungary, but the remaining 6.3 billion won’t be released until the EU’s European Commission is happy with the reforms it wants Hungary to make.
The 18 billion euros for Ukraine is expected to help cover Ukraine’s massive $38 billion budget deficit for 2023. When Hungary initially blocked the funds, it said it was opposed to the way the EU planned to send the aid, which is by all 27 EU members jointly borrowing the funds.
Hungary has also been holding out on approving Sweden and Finland’s NATO bids, but Orban insists Budapest supports their memberships. Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, said that Hungary’s parliament would begin debating the ratification of the two Nordic nations joining NATO on February 20.
Hungary and Turkey are the only two countries that haven’t approved of Sweden and Finland joining the alliance. Western officials fear that Turkey is willing to delay its approval for a few more months as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is looking for more concessions from the Nordic countries.
Smart move by Hungary. The next thing they will do is approve Finland and Sweden into NATO. Then Turkey will follow.
Yes, temporizing until NATO is moot.
“temporizing” Cool term. I like it. Now when will NATO be moot? Well when Russia quits threatening or invading its neighbors. I don’t see that happening until Russia gets a better form of government. Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine has made NATO stronger.
Bizzarro world.
Ora stiamo parlando in italiano.
y ahora estamos hablando en español
On the way home on news-radio I heard a EU parliamentarian boasting and gloating about how they backed Hungary into a corner. There was no pretence of any sort common understanding let alone of voluntary decision on Hungary’s part. The EU resorted to blackmail, because they can. No excuses from the parliamentarian, just congratulations from the host. This is now what they are.
Hungary is in violation of many EU rules and norms, if they do not want to play by the rules then they can leave EU, otherwise they will face this kind of action i.e. withholding funds that they get as an EU member – part of what they violate is the separations of power and acknowledging that EU law supersedes Hungarian law.
So if your country does not want to be democratic or play by the same laws that govern the rest of the club, it is not really surprising that the rest of the club will decide not to support your path financially – calling it blackmail will not change who is in the wrong.
When this war is over, Ukraine will still be an economic basket case. With the Donets region lost or destroyed, Ukraine’s major export will be agricultural products. With a shrinking population, the labor supply will shrink. There will be too much oligarchism and the governments will be shot through with grafters.
Western companies may already lick their chops. Ukrainian labor will be more expensive than Vietnamese/Chinese but still cheaper than German or American. Nothing new here under democracy.
That rather depends on how the war ends.
The war will most likely end with Ukraine being one large crater, unless ZelBoy decides to put on his big boy undies and negotiate in good faith.
He sure as sh*t ain’t gettin’ Crimea back, and likely not Donbas.
So you believe that Russia is going to be unable to win the war? I’m asking because given that not even the Russians are working towards completely destroying Ukraine as it is their goal to take it and they would not destroy the country they want to be part of Russia.
If they are not going to be able to win the war, why are you so sure that they would utterly destroy their chance of becoming at some point part of the global trade that has enriched the world over the last many years – because turning Ukraine into a crater just because they cannot beat them in a conventional battle will make the west force that choice on the countries that do not shun Russia by themselves.
Russia only wants “to take Ukraine” in the fantasy-world of propaganda. Like drugs or alcohol it is imperative in the art of selling propaganda to not be your own biggest costumer.
I only refer to what they have said on Russian state tv, if you disagree with that then explain what better source we have for their goals and why you would think that turning Ukraine into one big crater would be part of any winning strategy?
Yeah, I’m familiar with that YouTube agitprop Russian tv flick, the hey, you dumb nitwit, here’s some cut and paste outrage for you. Now feck off and be mad! It is even more popular than MEMRI was when folk needed to support the Iraq war. Indeed not a source I take seriously. But it does explain you being so powerfully confused about everything.
Unless your claim is that what is said there is not actually being said, you are the one with a problem – the clips run into several minutes and the people are establishing points that they want to articulate – these are not gotcha quotes taken out of context.
If you have any problem with any of the clips I have shown or how I have used them you are more than welcome to verbalize how you think they are not making the points I use them to establish – just claiming that the Russian pundits are not say to be taken seriously is just a very weak attempt at avoiding points that you cannot defend or explain.
I am in the fortunate position to ease your anxiety here: I don’t have any problems. That agitation inducing shite isn’t interesting, it isn’t relevant and it isn’t worth the words wasted on it already.
I’m not anxious – the Russians are – I’m very content that this is their situation – if that is also your attitude then I must somehow have been misreading most of your comments, but somehow I doubt it.
Russia doesn’t want the poorest nation in the EU; why would Putin want that albatross around his neck?
He wants freedom for the Russian ethnics of Donbas and of course, to retain Crimea.
If that is the case then why did he annex those 4 additional oblasts?
Uh…To protect the ethnic Russian people there from Ziolensky’s goon squads?
Duh.
Given that these Oblasts were not majority Russian population oblasts, and that there are also Russians in all other oblasts – your argument that they would not want the rest of Ukraine is then defective.
Nuh-uh.
Ukrainazis weren’t attacking Russian -speakers outside the Donbas, to my knowledge at least.
They were not attacking them in the very large parts of Luhansk they had nor in the very large parts of Donetsk under their control – so are you now saying that Putin annexed the 4 oblasts at least two of them wrongly or just what are you proposing?
Quite the “deal”.
Yes well, you see blackmailing is a crucial EU value they’re defending now (this is the selling point they chose: they’re defending the EU’s vital democratic values against attack by Hungary.)
Ah yes, EU with its “independent” foreign policy prolonging the proxy war and bloodshed. Hungary won’t fall in line? better call them corrupt and bully them into it. Nevermind that the Ukrainian Nazis are more corrupt by EU’s own auditors.