EU poised to unfreeze €550 million for Hungary in exchange for Russia sanctions
The European Commission plans to release about €550 million
from EU funds for Hungary as Brussels seeks to overcome Prime Minister Viktor
Orbán’s veto on additional sanctions against Russia, the Financial
Times reported.
EU sanctions require unanimous approval, but Hungary and
Slovakia have threatened to block the latest package.
This week, EU ambassadors discussed a series of restrictive
measures proposed by the Commission. The new sanctions target cryptocurrencies,
banks and the energy sector, and are meant to accelerate the bloc’s break from
Russian fuel by 2027.
Orbán, facing parliamentary elections next year, has
repeatedly insisted he will not give up cheap Russian energy and has delayed
efforts to penalize Moscow.
In 2022, Brussels froze about €22 billion earmarked for
Hungary over concerns about judicial independence, human rights and
discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. The Commission has since gradually
released portions of those funds to keep Orbán on board. In 2023, it unblocked
€10 billion to secure Budapest’s withdrawal of its veto on aid to Ukraine.
Hungary also obtained €157 million by exploiting a legal
loophole that allows frozen money to be redirected to other programs. Budapest
plans to use the same maneuver again: in May it requested €605 million under a
review of EU budget expenditures.
After months of talks, Brussels is prepared to let Hungary
access a substantial share of that request — roughly €550 million.
Earlier, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
presented the 19th package of sanctions against Russia, which included a ban on
imports of Russian liquefied natural gas.
She said the cap on crude oil prices had been lowered to
$47.6 per barrel and noted that the package also covers 118 vessels from
Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.
The new measures will focus on Russia’s cryptocurrency,
banking and energy sectors.
On Sept. 16, Bloomberg, citing an unnamed European diplomat,
reported that the EU postponed unveiling its sanctions package — initially
scheduled for Sept. 17 — after U.S. President Donald Trump pressed for tougher
European steps as a condition for advancing American sanctions.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry later dismissed that claim as
speculation.
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