Armageddon

EU threatened ‘Armageddon’ to force vote on Ukraine aid, Orbán says

Hungarian leader doubles down ahead of crucial European summit.

BY NICOLAS CAMUT

Viktor Orbán claims Brussels is blackmailing him to approve a €50 billion lifeline to Ukraine which Hungary's Euroskeptic prime minister has fiercely opposed.

Last weekend, it was reported that a document from an unnamed Council of the EU official set out measures targeting Hungary's economy if Orbán does not approve the Ukraine aid package, which will be discussed at a summit of EU leaders later this week.

In an interview with French weekly Le Point published Tuesday, Orbán said the plan was "like a blackmailer's manual" that would put Hungary under "a massive financial blockade."

"Then Hungary would suffer Armageddon," he added.

The prime minister said he had "no doubt" that the document, reported about in the Financial Times, was authentic. "Knowing Brussels, they're capable of it," he said.

Orbán has engaged in tense negotiations to extract concessions from the rest of the bloc in exchange for his support for the Ukraine aid package, which he was the only European leader to reject at a summit in December.

The proposed financial package would draw money from the European Union's budget — meaning that it requires unanimous approval from EU leaders, including Hungary's.

Hungary has since then offered to split the funding into annual tranches — a proposal that would effectively give Budapest the chance to block the EU's funding to Ukraine every year.

Orbán's strong-arm tactics are exasperating European chancelleries, which could consider depriving the Hungarian leader of his voting rights — but the Hungarian leader isn't backing down.

"Nothing has changed" in Hungary's position on the topic, said Orbán, who has been increasingly isolated amongst EU leaders because of his opposition to the bloc's support to Ukraine.

"Hungary, as a sovereign state, opposes this change to the budget," said Orbán.

"They try to convince us, then put pressure on us, then blackmail us, to force us to join them. It's very difficult to stay alone in this family," the prime minister added.