Hungary has decided not to approve the EU decision, which will allow it to agree on a loan of 35 billion euros to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets before the presidential elections in the United States.
This was stated by Hungarian Finance Minister Mihaly Varga. According to him, the EU must base its next steps on who the Americans elect.
This money was supposed to be part of a loan of 50 billion euros, which they plan to repay using profits from frozen Russian assets.
Debates on the loan will continue during the meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels on October 9, Euronews reports. Hungary holds a rotating presidency of the EU Council and is tasked with moderating the meeting.
Earlier, the US and EU came close to providing Ukraine with $50 billion using frozen Russian assets. The extent of the United States’ involvement will depend on improvements in EU sanctions. Bloomberg wrote that Washington informed Brussels of its readiness to allocate $20 billion. for the G7 project if the EU adjusts the sanctions regime against Russia.
In particular, now sanctions against Russia need to be extended every six months by a unanimous decision of the member countries.
Washington wants more guarantees that frozen Russian assets will remain so in the future, accordingly, a review of the sanctions regime every 36 months.
At the same time, the United States plans to participate in the project even if the EU does not make corresponding changes, but this step will affect the size of Washington’s contribution.
In this case, Brussels proposed to allocate 35 billion euros ($39 billion) from its own budget, but Germany, France and Italy opposed it.
Source: Racurs
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