Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced early Friday that he used his veto power at the European Union summit in Brussels to prevent the approval of a 50-billion-euro European aid package for Ukraine.
Orban posted on the "X" platform (formerly Twitter), summarizing the overnight session: "Veto on additional funds for Ukraine and a veto on the multi-year European budget review. We will return to this issue next year after proper preparations."
While 26 out of the 27 EU member states had agreed to provide Ukraine with a four-year package consisting of loans and grants totaling 50 billion euros,
Hungary's rejection effectively blocked the deal.
Following Orban's announcement, European Council President Charles Michel stated that EU member states would resume negotiations on providing new assistance to Ukraine "early next year."
Michel told reporters, "I don't want to delve too deeply into the details. I will work in the coming days and weeks with my colleagues to prepare for a summit at the beginning of next year."
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte commented, "We have reached an agreement among 26 countries. There is no agreement from Hungary at the moment, but I am very confident about next year."
Orban's decision, considered a setback for Ukraine and its supporters, comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his allies celebrated the success of the European summit in opening negotiations for Ukraine's accession to the bloc.
Decisions at European summits typically require unanimous consent from all 27 member states, giving each country a veto.
Orban has also opposed initiating accession negotiations with Ukraine to join the EU.
However, this time, instead of using a veto, he agreed to a compromise by leaving the room during the vote, allowing the decision to pass without his vote for or against.
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