Viktor Orbán must not be allowed to take the EU “hostage”, Emmanuel Macron has said, after the Hungarian prime minister blocked a €50bn EU aid package for Ukraine in the early hours of Friday.
As leaders of the European Union start working on the details of plan B to raise the money through cash and loans, the French president said Orbán was being dishonest to the public about his reasons for vetoing the financial package and would ultimately come around.
The failure to commit more aid to prop up Ukraine’s budget over the next four years dealt a blow to Kyiv, even after the EU took the symbolic step of agreeing to open membership talks.
EU leaders will meet again in January or February to try to get the funding package approved by all member states, arguing that Orbán’s decision was one of self-harm.
“The question is how we move forward collectively. And for me, the next few months are decisive months for Hungary and for us,” said Macron.
Diplomats and EU leaders have made it clear they would prefer the Ukraine fund to come from the central budget, but if it does not, they can find the €50bn (£43bn), made up of €17bn cash and €33bn in loans, without Orbán.
“I think we can fund Ukraine if we are totally blocked next year,” Macron told reporters after the EU summit in Brussels.
Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar, said he was a “bit disappointed” that they could not agree on the budget, but it was “not a disaster in the sense that we can now roll over the loans to Ukraine”.
He added: “The money will continue to flow to Ukraine for the next couple of months, and hopefully when we come back here in January or February we’ll be able to agree a package of financial support for Ukraine.”
Macron predicted that the Hungarians would continue to defend their “legitimate national interests”, but expected them to “go beyond posturing”, show responsibility and “behave like Europeans and not take the political progress hostage”.
Orbán, who has a history of trying to use disagreements with other EU leaders for his electoral benefit, told state radio he had blocked the aid package to ensure that Budapest gets funds from the EU budget that are frozen over concerns about the rule of law in Hungary.
“It is a great opportunity for Hungary to make it clear that it must get what it is entitled to. Not half of it, or one-fourth,” he said. The European Commission, the EU executive, restored Hungary’s access to €10.2bn in frozen funds on Wednesday after Budapest passed laws addressing some EU concerns, but funds worth billions of euros remain frozen.
Russia praised Hungary for blocking the aid. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Budapest, “in contrast to many European countries, firmly defends its interests, which impresses us”.
The crunch summit in Brussels ended the talks on the budget at 3am on Friday after EU leaders decided not to isolate Hungary further.
Seven hours earlier, Orbán had withdrawn his threat to veto the decision to allow negotiations to begin on Ukraine’s bid for EU membership. Fresh details of what is now being called “a Sholz moment” emerged on Friday.
In an unusual diplomatic manoeuvre, the German chancellor suggested to Orbán that it would be a good moment to grab a coffee as talks over enlargement hit deadlock. Orbán left the room in the full knowledge of what was about to happen, and when he returned, everyone was laughing, said one diplomat.
“Someone asked him, ‘How was your coffee?’ He wasn’t very happy and told them he had “used the opportunity to go to the toilet”.
“With 26 countries, we agree. There is no agreement from Hungary at the moment, but I am very confident for next year,” the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said.
“I am confident the 26 members want this,” said Kaja Kallas, the Estonian prime minister. “As long as he [Orbán] says the wrong things, but does the right things, we are OK.”
Orbán remained defiant on Friday in relation to the decision to progress Ukraine’s membership of the EU, telling his home audience that he could block accession at many points in the years-long process.
But behind the scenes, Macron claimed that Orbán would not obstruct the talks due to start next spring, if a report to be produced in March shows Ukraine has completed the remaining reforms required to take the first step on the formal accession journey.
“If the conditions, which are objectively set and measured by the [European] Commission, are not met, there will be no opening of negotiations,” said Macron. “On the other hand, if these rules are met, and I asked him [Orbán] the question, he told me that he would not block, if that were the case.”
The leaders also discussed the war in the Middle East, potential sanctions on Israel settlers involved in violence in the West Bank, and the rise of antisemitism.
No conclusions or decision were planned, but Varadkar said the majority of countries were moving towards a position of calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire”.
