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Hungary's Orban ridicules EU's drained funds: 'Where's the money?'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
30 Jun 2023 00:20
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban uses a John Travolta meme to mock the EU's drained funds amid the bloc's outpour of aid to Ukraine.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban smiles as he speaks at a joint news conference with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz at the federal chancellery in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018. (AP)

The European Union's two-day summit began on Thursday in Brussels, following the European Commission's evaluation of a draft budget for the period 2024-2027.

The Commission stated that the EU's coffers have been depleted, and it is demanding an increase of €66 billion ($72 billion), mostly to cover more aid for Ukraine.

Taking a swing at the depleted funds, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban mocked the European Commission's rapidly depleting finances in a tweet on Thursday. "What happened to the 7-year budget?" Orban queried, accompanying his tweet with a John Travolta meme from the movie Pulp Fiction.

Just 2 years into the 7-year budget, #Brussels is running out of money. How did this happen? What happened to the budget? Where is the money, @EuropeanCommiss ? pic.twitter.com/yENyF7jXgY
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) June 29, 2023

"How did this happen?" What happened to the budget? "Where is the money?" Orban asked as the European Commission proposed an increase of €66 billion ($72 billion) in its long-term budget on Tuesday.

The European Commission's evaluation of a draft budget for the years 2024-2027 revealed an urgent need to raise the fast-diminishing budget, with the majority of the money apparently needed to support more aid for Ukraine.

Viktor Orban's tweet sparked a discussion on Twitter, with many people turning to social media to condemn the money being used to prop up Ukraine's "corrupt" President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Since the beginning of Russia's special military operation, EU nations have supplied more than 61.7 billion euros in direct assistance to Kiev, including more than 10 billion euros in military aid. Moscow has frequently warned that any assistance risks exacerbating the crisis.

Hungary prevented the European Union from giving the eighth €500 million package from the so-called European Peace Fund to the Kiev authorities in May. Hence, Orban has insisted that the ongoing hostilities stem from a "failure of diplomacy."

Instead of continuing a strategy of further escalation, the senior Hungarian leader asked the West to stop escalation immediately. Viktor Orban has also been particularly scathing in his criticism of the European Union's anti-Russian actions.