Frankly, I don’t see why sending funds requires unanimous EU approval. Hungary wasn’t even contributing, based on the article:
Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic approved the idea with the crucial caveat that they did not have to contribute to the loan.
So I’d expect that any group of countries that do want to send funds could do so absent Hungary without even affecting the total commitment.
Sanctions on goods out of Russia or something, sure. The EU controls what gets into the EU at the customs border. You have to have an EU-level decision, or goods can enter via another EU member and then there’s no control of the flow of goods internal to the EU. The EU structure doesn’t permit for that to be done below the EU level.
But I don’t believe that there’s any intrinsic reason that Hungary need sign off on funds going to Ukraine, assuming that other countries honestly do want to send that money. A country can send funds wherever it wants, on an individual or collective basis.
Afaik the EU wants to change the mechanism for initiatives like this, specifically so no one country could hold the entire thing hostage. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it took twenty years to implement that.
Orbán was a thorn in the side of the EU since 2022, and he was already asked to go drink some coffee while adults formed another aid package for Ukraine back in 2024.
Hungary is an eu member with the veto power that entails. It is a protection for other countries too in other instances on other issues. It’s how the eu works. What’s meant to happen is they negotiate with the state that has an issue to alleviate the concern.
That’s what happened. Except Hungary, or rather Orban is changing the deal. If individual countries send funds it’s messier and doesn’t show the international support and intent that a clock like the eu sending support does. Its not just about money, but intelligence sharing, training, arms etc.
Of course any country can send whatever help they want.
The point of this agreement within EU, is that it is an EU decision that guarantees Ukraine enough money to sustain the war.
If each country does it individually, it can be blocked similarly within each country’s parliament.
And no single country would realistically guarantee Ukraine this kind of money.
Frankly, I don’t see why sending funds requires unanimous EU approval. Hungary wasn’t even contributing, based on the article:
So I’d expect that any group of countries that do want to send funds could do so absent Hungary without even affecting the total commitment.
Sanctions on goods out of Russia or something, sure. The EU controls what gets into the EU at the customs border. You have to have an EU-level decision, or goods can enter via another EU member and then there’s no control of the flow of goods internal to the EU. The EU structure doesn’t permit for that to be done below the EU level.
But I don’t believe that there’s any intrinsic reason that Hungary need sign off on funds going to Ukraine, assuming that other countries honestly do want to send that money. A country can send funds wherever it wants, on an individual or collective basis.
Afaik the EU wants to change the mechanism for initiatives like this, specifically so no one country could hold the entire thing hostage. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it took twenty years to implement that.
Orbán was a thorn in the side of the EU since 2022, and he was already asked to go drink some coffee while adults formed another aid package for Ukraine back in 2024.
Hungary is an eu member with the veto power that entails. It is a protection for other countries too in other instances on other issues. It’s how the eu works. What’s meant to happen is they negotiate with the state that has an issue to alleviate the concern.
That’s what happened. Except Hungary, or rather Orban is changing the deal. If individual countries send funds it’s messier and doesn’t show the international support and intent that a clock like the eu sending support does. Its not just about money, but intelligence sharing, training, arms etc.
Orban was never going to negotiate in good faith. He’s in Putin’s pocket.
Afaik he’s trading support for Ukraine for some EU money or whatnot going to Hungary.
I think he’s lost some funding due to obstructions. So if his plan was as a negotiation tactic, not as a means to help Putin, it’s failed miserably.
He keeps doing this for the past four years, and afaik the EU keeps giving him concessions and the aid keeps being delivered in the end.
Clearly, Orban didn’t ever plan to follow through with those promises. He’s playing a different game.
You know that he was doing this exact thing since 2022, right? Somehow aid to Ukraine keeps being delivered in the end.
Of course any country can send whatever help they want.
The point of this agreement within EU, is that it is an EU decision that guarantees Ukraine enough money to sustain the war.
If each country does it individually, it can be blocked similarly within each country’s parliament.
And no single country would realistically guarantee Ukraine this kind of money.