BRUSSELS: Russia congratulated Hungary on Friday for blocking EU financial aid to Ukraine at a Brussels summit that nonetheless saw EU leaders overcome Budapest's opposition to agree Kyiv starting membership talks.
"Hungary, in contrast to many European countries, firmly defends its interests, which impresses us," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed the European Union earmarking 50 billion euros over four years for Ukraine, as the country battles Russia's army.
However, on Thursday, when the EU leaders discussed opening accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova, Orban agreed to leave the room so that his colleagues could approve the plan by consensus and not face a Hungarian veto. Moscow slammed the move.
"This is absolutely a politicised decision -- the EU's desire to show support to these countries in this way. But certainly such new members can actually destabilise the EU," Peskov said.
Peskov said Brussels was intent on pitting eastern European countries against Moscow. "Everything is being done to annoy Russia and antagonise these countries towards Russia," he said.
Hungary under Orban is Russia's best friend in the EU, and Moscow sees the country as one of its only allies inside the bloc. Orban linked the planned EU money for Ukraine to tens of billions of euros that Brussels has frozen for Hungary because of democratic backsliding and corruption concerns.
"This is a great opportunity for Hungary to make it clear that it should get what it deserves," Orban said. "We want to be treated fairly, and now there is a good chance that we can assert this."
Faced with Orban's intransigence, the other EU leaders agreed to revisit the matter in another summit early next year. Irish premier Leo Varadkar said the blocked discussion was "disappointing" but "there are workarounds" if Hungary continued to dig its heels in.
The other 26 countries could stump up the Ukraine aid money anyway, on a bilateral basis, he said, though the preference was to make it an EU package.
Kyiv is urgently trying to change the narrative that backing from its Western allies is waning as doubts swirl over support from the United States. The White House -- which faces opposition from US Republicans to support for Ukraine -- hailed the "historic decision". — AFP
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