“Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in the world” and the EU’s financial support “must be conditioned on guarantees that money, including Slovak money, is not used improperly”. Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said this in a post on Facebook during the EU summit proceedings.
In Brussels, leaders of 27 countries are discussing the European Commission’s request to increase the EU budget, mainly to deal with the Ukraine crisis (as well as migrants and the ecological transition). Frugal countries such as the Netherlands oppose the EU administration’s request on the grounds that it would require more spending from public coffers. However, Hungary and Slovakia vetoed the target of these new funds, especially Ukraine.
The Slovak prime minister said he was “ready to support an increase in Bratislava’s contribution by around 400 million” over the next 4 years, provided there are no cuts in EU funds “for farmers and cohesion” and new allocations are used to “increase the EU’s competitiveness and combat illegal immigration.” combat”. His Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban, believes that the increase requested by Brussels is excessive even for immigrants: “We do not support this kind of migration policy and we do not want to provide money to immigrants. We do not want to allocate funds to Ukraine either. I received a very good offer,” he said.
The Hungarian prime minister also criticized the EU’s stance on Ukraine: “It is obvious that the Ukrainians cannot win at the front. All military experts speak and write, but politicians do not dare to say that they chose a bad strategy,” Orban said. According to Orban, victory by the Ukrainian armed forces appeared to European politicians as a realistic scenario, and they promised funds as long as this was the case. But a military victory now looks out of reach, according to the Budapest leader: “The Russians will not lose at the front,” he assured, and said he was proud to continue dialogue with Russia and President Vladimir Putin.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
