EU leaders on Thursday struck a deal with Viktor Orban to get 50 billion euros in financial aid to Ukraine, overcoming the Hungarian prime minister’s veto with surprising speed at a crunch summit in Brussels.
As doubts swirl over future support from Ukraine’s other major ally the United States, the Eeuropean Union deal is a huge boost for Kyiv as Russia’s war nears the start of its third year.
“All 27 leaders agreed on an additional €50 billion support package for Ukraine within the EU budget,” European Council president Charles Michel, who chairs the summit, wrote on X, form erly Twitter.
“This locks in steadfast, long-term, predictable funding for Ukraine.”
The abrupt about-face from Orban on the vital four-year funding package for Kyiv came after EU leaders offered a possible review of the spending in two years — if called for by consensus among member states.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the deal in a video address to the EU leaders as “a clear signal that Ukraine will withstand and that Europe will withstand”.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen hailed a “good day for Europe.”
The money will plug holes in the Ukrainian government’s budget to allow it to pay salaries and services, as its outgunned soldiers battle to hold back Moscow’s forces.
Orban — Russia’s closest ally in the EU — sparked fury from his 26 counterparts in the bloc by thwarting a December deal on the aid.
Thursday’s talks were expected again to see hours of protracted political arm-wrestling but a deal was swiftly announced after Orban met first with the leaders of Germany, France, Italy and the EU institutions.
“He gave some ground,” said one European diplomat. “He saw that people were growing irritated, that there was a line not to cross.”
The Hungarian nationalist had been accused of holding Ukraine’s future hostage in a bid to blackmail Brussels into releasing billions of euros in frozen EU funds for Budapest.
While there was no suggestion of a direct quid-pro-quo, Orban did win assurances that Brussels would handle the question of Budapest’s blocked funds worth 20 billion euros with impartiality, the diplomat said.
“What Orban wants is not to be put in a corner,” said another European diplomat. “It was a case of give and take. This was not about strong-arming, or threats.
Everyone behaved constructively.”