Ukraine calls Orban for money

Kiev insisted EU donations are not charity, but a ‘security investment’

It is “cynical” of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to criticize EU funding to Ukraine when Budapest is also taking money from Brussels, the foreign ministry in Kiev said on Friday. Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko also insisted that Ukraine was defending Hungary and the rest of the EU from Russia.

Earlier in the day, in an interview with a Hungarian radio station, Orban had described Ukraine as “a non-existent country in financial terms”, totally dependent on EU and US handouts that will not last forever.

“Another anti-Ukrainian statement,” Nikolenko wrote on Facebook. “It is cynical for the Hungarian leadership to talk about other countries’ financial issues while Hungary receives a lot of money from the EU to support its economic stability.”

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Ukraine a “non-existent country” financially – Orban

By giving money to Ukraine, Nikolenko insisted, the EU “invests first and foremost in its own security”, as Ukrainians defend Europe with their lives from “unprecedented Russian aggression”. Instead, he argued, Orban should be grateful to Ukraine for “a peaceful sky over Budapest and other European cities.”

Speaking on national radio on Friday, Orban noted that the EU currently pays the salaries of Ukrainian civil servants, as well as pensions and healthcare costs, because Kiev’s economy had completely collapsed due to the conflict.

According to the most recent estimates, the bloc has provided more than 50 billion euros ($55.3 billion) to Kiev since the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022, including 12 billion euros in weapons and 30 billion more euros in financial aid. This does not include the $113 billion that the US Congress had appropriated to prop up Ukraine, of which only 20% has been cash aid.

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US sanctions people in Hungary

“Obviously, Ukraine cannot be financed,” Orban said, adding that external support “cannot continue indefinitely.” The conflict will end the moment the US and the EU stop funding Kiev, he argued.

Although Hungary receives billions of euros in subsidies from Brussels, the EU is currently withholding a combined €34 billion, including recovery funds from the Covid-19 pandemic, demanding that Budapest change policies that the EU disapproves, especially on issues of immigration and immigration. LGBT rights.

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