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The deal is a victory for EU leaders who are increasingly struggling to work with Mr. Orban on key issues, particularly Russia’s war in Ukraine, and are desperately short of both ammunition and cash. This is good news for Ukraine.
“This ensures stable, long-term and predictable funding; ukraine” European Council President Charles Michel said in announcing the agreement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the news, saying: “Continuation of EU financial support for Ukraine will strengthen long-term economic and financial stability. This is as important as military support and sanctions pressure on Russia.” ” he wrote.
But weeks of difficult negotiations have focused on how a single strongman can disrupt the EU even on issues that many see as “survival” for the bloc, such as the Russian invasion. I guessed. And it suggests how unstable and unpredictable long-term aid to Ukraine is.
In the United States, a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine has been blocked by congressional Republicans seeking concessions on border security. In Europe, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán used a veto to block funding at the December summit, forcing leaders, states and governments to fly back for a second meeting. Senior EU officials and national leaders have been working hard for weeks to secure his support.
Underscoring the sense of uncertainty and chaos, the meeting took place amid massive protests by farmers who arrived in tractors, blocked traffic and set fire to the city center. They called on leaders to focus more on cost of living issues, including high taxes and excessive regulation by EU headquarters in Brussels.
Rising populist sentiment on the continent could help Mr. Orban and others challenge Ukraine at a dangerous moment of war. Ukraine’s 2024 strategy remains unclear, with close allies worried behind the scenes about the outlook on the battlefield and the political turmoil in Kiev.
But on Thursday, Prime Minister Orbán did not have his way.
Discord between Brussels and Budapest is not new. For years, Prime Minister Orbán has clashed with EU officials and leaders, pandering to populist sentiment at home and using his acerbic stance and veto power to extract concessions.
But in recent months, he seems to have crossed a new line. Leaders see his recent antics as a real threat to Europe’s security and are increasingly trying to avoid him.
“The so-called Ukraine fatigue is fine,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said as he entered the summit on Thursday. “There is Orban fatigue in Brussels right now.”
“This is for Mr. Orbán to decide,” he continued, “whether or not Hungary is part of our community.”
In the run-up to the summit, EU officials and leaders pressed Mr. Orbán to return to the table and laid out plans to move forward, including striking a deal with the other 26 member states without him.
A paper written by the EU Council and leaked to the Financial Times ahead of the summit explored how EU countries could deliberately disrupt Hungary’s economy in order to get Mr Orbán on board.
The leak was widely seen as an EU effort to bring Hungary back into the fight.
Some people think that may have worked. “A swift agreement shows that Viktor Orbán will step back when economic pressure increases,” Rasmus Andresen, a spokesman for the German Green Party in the European Parliament, said in a statement.
“He lost on every front,” he continued. “Today should mark the end of his power game.”
Beatrice Rios in Brussels and Serhiy Morgunov in Warsaw contributed to this report.
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