Minister Slams EU’s €2 Trillion Budget Proposal for Prioritizing Ukraine

The European Commission’s €2 trillion budget proposal is unprecedented because it prioritizes Ukraine over the interests of EU Member States, says János Bóka, Minister for European Union Affairs. Under the plan, Ukraine would receive €100 billion in direct aid, and other EU programs, such as Erasmus, Horizon, and cross-border cooperation, would also be affected.

According to the Minister, the Commission would merge the resources of the common agricultural policy and cohesion policy into a pillar called a “national plan,” which would be subject to political conditions. Without fulfilling these conditions, Member States would not have access to the funds allocated to them. This would mainly affect agricultural and cohesion funds, which have traditionally provided substantial support to Hungary.

János Bóka noted that the Commission would also introduce a new, comprehensive system of conditionality based on the rule of law, which would allow EU programs to be suspended on political grounds.

❌ In its current form, the new #MFF proposal is unacceptable.

The new #EUBudget proposed by the @EU_Commission has only two winners: #Ukraine and the #EuropeanCommission. This is unacceptable – not only for #Hungary, but also for many other Member States.

‍ Losers are the… pic.twitter.com/0fJ186zxjZ

— Bóka János (@JanosBoka_HU) July 18, 2025

The Minister also criticized the planned new EU taxes, such as the turnover tax on European companies and the planned levies on electronic waste and carbon, which he claims would place additional financial strain on citizens. In his view, the new budget does not serve to improve competitiveness, but rather to militarize the EU, as defense spending would increase fivefold compared to the previous cycle.

Bóka also pointed out that the European Commission itself is the biggest winner of the new budget, as it is requesting 2,500 new jobs and earmarking €20 billion for its agencies.

The draft also envisages more than €400 billion in new borrowing, which the Hungarian Government opposes on political grounds and considers it unsustainable in budgetary terms.

“The proposed MFF has two winners: Ukraine, set to receive every fifth euro from the budget, and the Commission, concentrating unprecedented power in its own hand.” ➖ Minister @JanosBoka_HU ahead of today’s #GAC. pic.twitter.com/K3dClFEUxl

— Hungary in the EU (@HungaryintheEU) July 18, 2025