Hungary blocks 35 billion euro loan to Ukraine – Euronews

Hungary is delaying the approval of a 35 billion euro loan to Ukraine from the European Union (EU). The reason for this is the desire to wait for the results of the US presidential election, which is scheduled to take place on November 5, 2024. According to the country's representative, the candidates "advocate opposing approaches to resolving the war unleashed by Russia," and therefore the EU should allegedly base its further steps on who the American people will choose.

This was reported by euronews. They reminded: "Hungary has a reputation for "blocking sanctions until it gets concessions" to address its personal interests. At the same time, some of these concessions "meet the interests of the Kremlin."

"Hungary has confirmed that it will delay a €35 billion loan offered by the European Commission to support Ukraine's war-torn economy until the United States elects its next president. The loan will use the profits from the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank to gradually repay the money provided to Kyiv," the statement said.

It is also emphasized that, according to the Hungarian representative, "the issue of extending sanctions against Russia should be resolved after the US elections." As presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump "advocate two opposing approaches to resolving the war unleashed by Russia."

"We have to see in which direction the future US administration will move on this issue. After all, there are two completely different ways to solve this problem," said Hungarian Finance Minister Mihai Varga.

However, it is noted that "the debate around the loan will continue." This is expected to happen on October 9. Thus, a delay in providing support to Ukraine may be avoided.

As a reminder, the $50 billion loan agreed by the G7 leaders in June is to be serviced from the Russian central bank's assets frozen in the West, which amount to about $300 billion. The EU is ready to provide most of the amount - up to 35 billion euros. The rest of the funds should come from the United States and other G7 members.

At the same time, Washington insists on reviewing the timing of the extension of EU sanctions against Russia. Currently, they are extended every six months, and the United States is asking for a three-year extension. This is necessary to guarantee stable servicing of loans (which the G7 countries have to take out to help Ukraine) at the expense of assets frozen in Europe.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, at the same time, financial institutions in the Netherlands froze much less Russian money than expected. Thus, in January 2024, the local parliament announced that the total amount of frozen Russian assets would be 660 million euros, but by July 1, only 97.2 million had been blocked.

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