EP approves €90 billion support loan for Ukraine, with Hungary opting out

On Wednesday, the European Parliament (EP) gave the green light to the Council's decision to apply the enhanced cooperation procedure and grant Ukraine a €90 billion aid loan from the EU.

The European Council, the body of heads of state and government, reached a political agreement on the loan in December. In a statement issued on behalf of all of them, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, they said that the European Council had reached an agreement on the €90 billion loan. This is to be covered by the common budget, but it will be provided through enhanced cooperation, meaning that only a group of member states will participate in it, thus "it will not affect the financial obligations of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia."

The European Commission then presented three proposals necessary for the legal implementation of the political agreement. One of these was adopted by the EP on Wednesday.

The European Commission originally proposed using seized Russian assets for the loan. This would not have required a unanimous decision, a qualified majority would have been enough, but after lengthy negotiations, mainly due to resistance from the Belgian government, which would have been most affected, no agreement could be reached in December. Twenty-five of the 27 leaders (excluding Viktor Orbán) specifically stated that they reserve the right to use Russian assets and that the loan does not have to be repaid until Russia has paid compensation. In other words, the loan can be converted into the use of Russian assets, but as things stand at present – as stated in the current EP press release and the European Commission's previous statement – the room for maneuver available in the common EU budget, i.e., the safety margin between planned revenues and actual expenditures, the "headroom," will cover it.

The procedure was approved by 499 votes in favour, 135 against and 24 abstentions. According to the minutes, among the Hungarian representatives, only those from the Democratic Coalition (DK) supported the proposal, while the Fidesz–KDNP, Tisza Party and Mi Hazánk representatives voted against it.

"The Hungarian right wing – both in government and in opposition – has betrayed Ukraine," Klára Dobrev said in a Facebook post. According to the DK president, the loan is "not covered by European taxpayers' money, but by seized Russian assets. In other words, Russia should pay for the destruction caused by its war – this would not cost Hungarians a penny, yet they prevented this.” According to her, the Tisza Party “sided with Orbán” on this issue. Instead of Hungary, the Prime Minister is defending the idea that "Russia should not be held accountable for the destruction" and that Ukraine "should not receive the help it needs to survive," and even those who "call themselves the opposition" are helping him in this.