EU Pauses New Aid Plan to Ukraine amid Hungarian Opposition

There will be a special EU summit on March 6, with leaders focusing on European defense and Ukraine. Ahead of the summit, it was circulated that EU leaders would propose another multi-billion euro aid package to Ukraine. However, this aid plan was reportedly deleted from the draft to be adopted at the meeting, after Viktor Orbán signaled that Hungary would not accept it, reports Politico.

In its Brussels Playbook newsletter on March 4, Politico reported that EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas proposed additional military funding to Ukraine to be adopted in the latest draft of European Council resolutions. The Council will have a summit on March 6 focusing on Ukraine and European defense.

However, Kaja Kallas’ proposal was reportedly cut from the draft after Hungary objected to this version at an EU ambassadors’ meeting

It’s completely misguided to equate leading the free world with running a globalist war machine. No one needs a leader at the helm of a neoliberal warlord empire.

What we need are mature, responsible individuals—politicians who put their nations first. Leaders who can make… https://t.co/Sy4OrcDHY4

— Balázs Orbán (@BalazsOrban_HU) March 2, 2025

Politico saw a letter from European Council President António Costa, in which Mr Costa appeared to concede defeat regarding the aid package to Ukraine. This was after he met the Hungarian Prime Minister in Budapest last Tuesday. “I note that there is a divergence on the path to achieve peace and, in particular, the ‘peace through strength’ approach,” Costa wrote to Orbán on March 3, reports Politico.

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Viktor Orbán wrote a letter to the President of the European Council ahead of the special EU summit on Ukraine.Continue reading

The newsletter points out that

while only Hungary and Slovakia objected to the aid package publicly, other EU states are satisfied with the funding being slowed down, including Paris.

However, this does not mean that further financial support to Ukraine is off the table. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to propose other ways to support Ukraine, instead of providing aid. One such plan is that 20 percent of the new loans available for defense spending would be given to Kyiv as help, writes Politico. The portal also pointed out that there is already a 60 billion euro aid earmarked for Ukraine that the EU has already committed to for 2025. The further 20 million euro in question would have been just additional.

As a result of the debate, the draft agreement text put forward at the Council now says that “the European Union and Member States are ready to further contribute to security guarantees.”

Meanwhile, talks are ongoing between EU leaders about how to achieve ceasefire and peace in Ukraine. Viktor Orbán will hold talks on Wednesday in Paris at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron on the matter.

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