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Despite weeks of opposition, Viktor Orbán relented and supported the financial aid the EU is planning for Ukraine. Meetings with EU leaders were decisive, after which the Hungarian prime minister gave the green light to a package of 50 billion euros for Kiev. However, this move is only one point in the list of disputes between the EU and Hungary. "Politico" addressed some of the most controversial issues in the relationship between Brussels and Budapest.
Putin's role
Much of the friction between Hungary and the rest of the bloc stems from Orbán's closeness to Vladimir Putin, which the Hungarian prime minister has made no effort to hide. With Ukraine mired in a grueling counteroffensive last October, Orban defied EU consensus by traveling to Beijing for a meeting with the Russian president. EU diplomats said they tried in vain to prevent the Hungarian leader from appearing at the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) meeting and standing by Putin.
At their meeting, Orbán told Putin that "Hungary has never tried to resist Russia." The opposite is true: Hungary has always tried to build and spread the best communication.
The meeting ended with Orbán and Putin shaking hands in front of the cameras - a public display of friendship that sparked outrage in other European capitals as it was seen as undermining the bloc's unified support for Ukraine.
Sanctions against Russia
Orbán's connection to Putin is not just for show: his country also has deep economic ties to Moscow, particularly in the energy sector. No wonder, then, that Hungary has stalled at every step negotiating the various rounds of sanctions the EU has imposed on Russia since the Kremlin began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
If the latest package of EU sanctions against Russia, adopted in December, does not include restrictions on nuclear power, this is largely because of Budapest's opposition to such a move.
Orban has said he will veto sanctions against Russia's nuclear sector, as his country relies on nuclear fuel from Russia and is even expanding its only nuclear power plant with help from Moscow's state nuclear company Rosatom. With EU countries currently negotiating the 13th package of sanctions, which is rumored to include aluminum sanctions, Hungarian authorities have once again warned that they consider the nuclear sector a red line.
Sweden's candidacy for NATO
In addition to blocking a number of EU documents, Hungary is also the only member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that has not yet accepted Sweden's bid to join the military alliance.
Orbán officially supported Sweden's candidacy, which must be confirmed by the Hungarian parliament.
The vote is supposed to be a formality: the ruling right-wing Fidesz party has a comfortable majority in Hungary's national assembly, and Orbán has said the vote will take place "at the earliest possible opportunity." But László Kever, the speaker of the Hungarian Parliament and a close ally of Orbán, is in no rush to put the vote on the House's agenda. Last week, Kever indicated that he would not request an emergency parliamentary session.
Military aid to Ukraine
Budapest has a "longstanding position" that "Hungary does not supply weapons to Ukraine," the Hungarian ambassador to the EU told his colleagues during a meeting last Wednesday.
And for a long time, Hungary has delayed the eighth installment of military aid to Ukraine, about 500 million euros to partially compensate for the weapons it received from Kiev through the European Peace Fund, an extra-budgetary fund of the EU.
Freedom of the media
Hungary was among the fiercest opponents of the new EU regulation aimed at protecting media freedom.
Hungary, where Orbán's Fidesz party controls 80 percent of the country's media, according to Reporters Without Borders, is among the main targets of the upcoming regulation, which aims to ensure media independence from political pressure.
The rule of law
Orbán's challenge to the EU is not limited to Ukraine – the prime minister, in power since 2010, is also embroiled in a long-running dispute with Brussels over the rule of law in Hungary. In December 2022, the European Commission froze around 22 billion euros of EU cohesion funds intended for Hungary.
Fighting over wheat
Along with Poland and Slovakia, Hungary protested last September against the Commission's decision to lift restrictions on wheat imports from war-torn Ukraine. The three countries, which all border Ukraine, argued at the time that the EU decision threatened the livelihoods of their farmers, who faced a sudden influx of cheaper Ukrainian produce.
"Ukrainian agricultural products destined for Africa are flooding the markets of Central Europe," Orban wrote at the time on the X platform. / Adapted "Pamphlet" from "Politico"
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