EU summit, 27-party agreement for 50 billion in aid to Ukraine. How Orbán's veto was avoided

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT

BRUSSELS - After a long tug-of-war with Budapest, the Twenty-Seven agreed today, Thursday 1 February, on a revised 2021-2027 budget that includes a 50 billion euro aid package for Ukraine. Hungary's opposition disappeared thanks to two political-legal arrangements, which should allow Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to be satisfied with the outcome of the summit. The agreement allows the Union to resolve, at least in the short term, a particularly embarrassing diatribe.

On X, former Twitter, European Council President Charles Michel said: 'We have an agreement. All 27 leaders have agreed on an additional support package of EUR 50 billion for Ukraine within the EU budget. This ensures steady, long-term and predictable funding for Ukraine. The EU is taking leadership and responsibility for support to Ukraine; we know what is at stake'.

According to the first information gathered on the sidelines of the still ongoing summit, while the farmers' protests continue in the city, the Twenty-Seven agreed that in two years' time the European Commission will present a possible revision of the Ukrainian package in the context of the next EU budget 2028-2034. Furthermore, in the conclusions expected at the end of the summit, the Twenty-Seven recalled that the application of the mechanism that makes the disbursement of EU funds conditional on respect for the rule of law must be proportionate and impartial.

The two arrangements meet Hungarian demands. For weeks, Prime Minister Orbán refused to give his agreement to the multi-year aid programme to Ukraine, demanding the possibility of renewing support to Kiev year by year and unanimously. This demand was always considered unacceptable by Budapest's partners. The compromise allows Hungary to say that some revision will be possible in two years' time, but within the framework of the next budget.