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Ukraine’s EU Future Uncertain As Hungary Threatens Veto

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent

KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukraine’s European Union future hangs in the balance Thursday, with EU member Hungary threatening to veto the wartorn nation’s talks on entering the 27-nation prosperous bloc.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, seen by critics as the most vocal pro-Russia leader within the EU, has strongly resisted Kyiv’s bid to join the European Union and its pleas for billions of euros in aid.

“We are the voice of common sense in Europe,” he told the Hungarian parliament on the eve of the EU summit. War, corruption, a significant agricultural sector, and mistreatment of its Hungarian minority disqualify Kyiv from joining the EU any time soon, he said.

However, EU officials have accused Orbán of using Ukraine as a bargaining chip for the billions of euros Hungary isn’t receiving in EU funding over corruption and rule-of-law worries.

In recent days, there appeared to be a heated exchange between the right-wing nationalist Hungarian leader and Ukraine’s embattled President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Besides struggling to receive the green light for EU membership talks, Zelensky fights for more than 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in EU aid.

While less visible than guns and ammunition, the aid is no less vital for Ukraine’s survival as it faces the ongoing Russian military invasion launched in February last year.

BILLIONS PROVIDED

So far, the EU provided Kyiv with billions of euros in crucial funding that has allowed it to keep hospitals, schools, and power plants running, pay veterans’ benefits, and rebuild homes despite the war.

But without Hungary’s support, that aid may be in jeopardy. Zelensky also copes with a less friendly U.S. Congress, where he hasn’t been able so far to receive another massive aid package.

U.S. President Biden has asked Congress for more than $60 billion in aid for Ukraine but has so far been rebuffed.

Republican support waned as the war dragged on, and they’re tying support for additional funding to changes to border security.

Congress is supposed to leave for the holidays in a matter of days. Sitting with Zelensky in the Oval Office this week, Biden told reporters that Congress would “give Putin the greatest Christmas gift they could possibly give him” if the aid package fails to pass.

“We can’t and won’t let him succeed,” he told Zelensky. “I don’t want you giving up hope.” Kyiv has also come under pressure over its perceived slow progress in the battlefield despite receiving billions in Western military aid.

And with funding perhaps not forthcoming and fighting continuing, Christmas remains far from peaceful for wartorn Ukraine.

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