Hungary to oppose EU joint borrowing plan to aid Ukraine: FM

• 

Hungary will continue to provide bilateral assistance to Ukraine but will not support the European Union's plan to borrow jointly from international capital markets to finance Ukraine, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday.

"We are ready to continue to support Ukraine based on a bilateral agreement," he told reporters in Sofia, adding, "But we will certainly not support any kind of joint EU borrowing in this field."

"We have done so once already. We supported the loan the EU took out during the coronavirus pandemic, and that was more than enough," he explained, as quoted by the Budapest Times daily.

Over the weekend, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen revealed that the EU executive would offer a financial assistance package for Ukraine to keep it afloat in 2023 this week.

Read next: Pentagon unveils new US command in Germany, more Ukraine aid

“The main focus of the conversation was on ensuring financial support for Ukraine in the months ahead,” the Commission’s announcement said.

“President von der Leyen informed President Zelensky that she would this week propose a substantial financial package from the EU of up to EUR 1.5 billion a month, totaling up to EUR 18 billion, which would contribute significantly to cover Ukraine’s financing needs for 2023. Both leaders recognized the importance of ensuring predictable and regular funding of essential state functions.”

The support would be in the form of highly concessional long-term loans, the Commission said, adding that it will cover the interest costs and work will be carried out to support Ukraine’s reforms and its path toward EU membership.

The announcement added that the financial package would need to be paralleled by similar support from other major donors.