JAKARTA - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the European Union was unable to finance Ukraine's military efforts because US financial assistance was no longer guaranteed.
This was conveyed by Orban on Friday, March 7, after leaders from 26 European Union countries signed a statement voicing support for Ukraine without Hungary.
Orban, an ally of US President Donald Trump, who is also in a relationship with Moscow, told state radio his government would conduct a domestic "public consult" on Ukraine's access to the European Union in the coming weeks.
A state-funded political campaign will take place when Orban, in power since 2010, faces elections in 2026 with an economy that has just come out of the inflation crisis and with the emergence of a new opposition party that is the strongest challenge for its government.
European leaders on Thursday supported plans to spend more on defense and continue to support Ukraine amid the world rocked by Donald Trump's US policy reversal.
The EU defense summit in Brussels is taking place amid Russia's growing concern that its war in Ukraine may strike the next EU country and Europe could no longer rely on the US to help it.
But Orban, who has refused to send weapons to Ukraine since the start of the war, and has maintained close ties with Moscow, said instead of extending the war, Europe should support Trump's peace negotiations.
He said the EU's way of supporting Ukraine now, while also increasing its own defense spending, would "destroy Europe."
"If now the US is stopping (financing war), why do the other 26 member states have the opportunity to end this war?" Orban told state radio.
"Today it seems I have vetoed. But in a few weeks they will come back and it turns out that there is no money for these goals," he continued.
Trump said Europe should be more responsible for its security.
On Thursday, he doubted his willingness to defend Washington's NATO allies, saying he would not have done so if they did not pay enough for their own defenses.
His decision to move from US strong support for Ukraine to a softer stance on Moscow deeply worries Europeans who see Russia as the biggest threat.
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