Hungary said the money should go to anything but weapons for the Ukrainians, the sources said.
The European Commission’s proposal to confiscate proceeds from frozen Russian assets in favor of Ukraine is unlikely to be approved at the summit of EU leaders, which will begin in Brussels on Thursday, March 21. It was reported yesterday by Deutsche Welle in relation to a senior European diplomat.
According to him, in most of the EU member countries there is a common understanding that the confiscated funds should be used to purchase weapons and ammunition for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“Now Ukraine needs money for weapons, and, unfortunately, not for reconstruction. And we are trying to do everything to prevent further destruction in Ukraine,” said the diplomat.
As you know, the proposal of the European Commission states that 90% of the income from the frozen assets of the Russian Federation should go to the purchase of weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, the interlocutor said that Hungary is against this, saying that this money should be used for anything other than weapons for Ukrainians.
The second “controversial issue” on the agenda of the summit, according to the diplomat, is a discussion on EU enlargement.
In December 2023, EU leaders supported the opening of accession negotiations between Ukraine and Moldova. To start the negotiations, the EU member states must approve the negotiation framework sent by the European Commission, which is a roadmap for the accession process, and hold a meeting of the intergovernmental conference – a specially created body directly will conduct negotiations. Both of these decisions require the unanimous support of all 27 EU leaders.
However, there is a high probability that these two decisions will not be made at the current summit, the interlocutor said: “There are member countries that are against the opening of negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova starting under the Belgian presidency of the EU.”
Belgium’s EU presidency lasts until July 1, after which Hungary must take over the baton.
Let’s remember that last week Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called on the citizens to help him “occupy” Brussels, but for now only in the elections to the European Parliament, which will be held in the summer.
It was also reported that three EU member states opposed the plan of the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to use the profits received from Russian fixed assets to buy weapons for Ukraine.
Source: korrespondent
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