Current:Home > NewsHungary’s foreign minister hints that Budapest will continue blocking EU military aid to Ukraine-InfoLens
Hungary’s foreign minister hints that Budapest will continue blocking EU military aid to Ukraine
View Date:2024-12-23 15:35:34
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s foreign minister on Wednesday said that his government wants guarantees from Kyiv that a Hungarian bank, recently removed from a Ukrainian list of sponsors of Russia’s war, will not be placed back on that list in the future — a sign that Budapest may not be ready to lift its veto of a major military aid package to Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that a Monday decision by the Ukrainian National Agency of Corruption Prevention to remove OTP Bank from the list was a “step in the right direction,” but that Hungary required further assurances before it would change its approach to Ukraine in any international settings.
Hungary’s Foreign Ministry has invited Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency to come to Budapest “as soon as possible” to discuss the listing of OTP, Szijjarto said, “so that we can negotiate an agreement that guarantees that no such decision will be taken (again) in the future.”
“If a reassuring agreement is reached there, then we will of course have to consider what steps this justifies on our part,” Szijjarto told a news conference.
Ukraine added OTP to its list of sponsors of the war in May in response to the financial institution continuing its operations in Russia – and thus paying taxes to the central government – after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In response, Hungary has blocked an EU military aid package to Kyiv worth 500 million euros since May, vowing it would not withdraw its veto until OTP was removed from the list.
Last week, Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency temporarily removed the bank from the list in the hopes that Budapest would lift its veto of the funding. But Hungarian officials signaled that the temporary removal was not enough, and the agency fully removed the bank from the list on Monday.
Hungary’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to emailed questions about whether Szijjarto’s comments indicated that Hungary would continue blocking the EU aid package despite OTP being taken off the war sponsors list.
The Hungarian government, led by nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has sparred with Kyiv over a number of issues since Russia’s full-scale invasion began.
Orbán, who has maintained ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has argued against supplying Ukraine with weapons and refused to allow Hungary to do so, and has fervently argued against imposing EU sanctions on Moscow, though he has never ultimately voted against them.
Last week, Orbán cast doubt on the prospect of the EU beginning negotiations any time soon for Ukraine to join the bloc, saying it was unrealistic to launch the accession process with a country that’s at war. He told the Hungarian parliament last week that his government would “not support Ukraine on any international issue” until the language rights of a Hungarian minority in western Ukraine are restored.
On Wednesday, Szijjarto said that Hungary also expects Ukraine to remove OTP’s Russian branch and four of its Hungarian executives from a list of entities submitted for sanctions.
veryGood! (48222)
Related
- US overdose deaths are down, giving experts hope for an enduring decline
- Police Search Underway After 40 Monkeys Escape Facility in South Carolina
- Average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the US rises for 6th straight week
- West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice appoints wife Cathy to state education board after U.S. Senate win
- Shaboozey to headline halftime show of Lions-Bears game on Thanksgiving
- New details emerge in deadly Catalina Island plane crash off the Southern California coast
- Roland Quisenberry: A Token-Driven Era for Fintech
- 49ers DE Nick Bosa says MAGA hat stunt was 'well worth' likely fine
- Women suing over Idaho’s abortion ban describe dangerous pregnancies, becoming ‘medical refugees’
- Halle Bailey criticizes ex DDG for showing their son on livestream
Ranking
- Stop What You're Doing—Moo Deng Just Dropped Her First Single
- AI DataMind: Quantitative Investment Journey of Dexter Quisenberry
- Vampire Diaries' Phoebe Tonkin Is Engaged to Bernard Lagrange
- NFL MVP odds: Ravens' Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry among favorites before Week 10
- 'The Penguin' spoilers! Colin Farrell spills on that 'dark' finale episode
- Judge blocks Pentagon chief’s voiding of plea deals for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, others in 9/11 case
- Nevada Democratic Rep. Dina Titus keeps her seat in the US House
- Man arrested at JFK Airport in plot to join ISIS in Syria
Recommendation
-
Lala Kent Swears by This Virgo-Approved Accessory and Shares Why Stassi Schroeder Inspires Her Fall Style
-
Roland Quisenberry: The Visionary Architect Leading WH Alliance into the Future
-
2 people charged with stealing items from historic site inside Canyonlands National Park
-
'Heretic' star Hugh Grant talks his 'evil freaks' era and 'Bridget Jones' return
-
Man jailed after Tuskegee University shooting says he fired his gun, but denies shooting at anyone
-
Best Holiday Gifts for Women: Shop Beauty, Jewelry, Athleisure, & More
-
Damon Quisenberry: Pioneering a New Era in Financial Education
-
30 quotes about stress and anxiety to help bring calm