Hungary: Using frozen Russian assets is ‘useless.’
Viktor Orbán told CNBC as officials arrived at the European Council meeting, that he believes there is no way to move forward with plans to finance Ukraine’s reconstruction through frozen Russian assets.
While the European Commission is considering using frozen Russian assets in Europe to provide more financial support to Ukraine, the Hungarian prime minister said that proposals to use frozen assets as a tool to help Ukraine have been rejected.
Orbán called the plan “useless” and lacked sufficient support to move forward.
Participants in the recent European Council meeting failed to agree on a plan to seize Russian assets, but European Council President Antonio Costa announced that a €90 billion loan would be provided to Ukraine over the period 2026-27.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “This is a solution we found together and that financing Ukraine after 2027 will be part of the long-term EU budget discussions.”
Orban is known as Russia’s closest ally in the EU and has been a vocal critic of plans to use hundreds of billions of euros in frozen assets from Moscow to finance reparations loans to Kiev, according to the report. However, Hungary is not the only country to be skeptical of such measures.
Belgium’s support is also crucial, as large amounts of frozen Russian assets are held in the Brussels-based financial institution Euroclear. The European country has expressed concerns about the potential legal and financial risks. Italy and Bulgaria have also backed Belgium’s resistance to the plans.