EU leaders and Hungary’s Viktor Orban to debate Ukraine aid

European bosses are having a meeting on Thursday in Brussels to try to solve a disagreement over giving money to Ukraine.

Hungary’s leader Viktor Orban said no to giving Ukraine 50 billion euros in aid last December.

Many people thought he made his decision because the EU didn’t give Hungary 20 billion euros due to worries about human rights and corruption.

Lately, there have been rumors about the EU taking strict action.

Leaders are getting frustrated with Hungary’s position, which is stopping money from reaching Ukraine as the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion gets closer.

At the recent meeting of EU leaders, Mr Orban reluctantly agreed to let Ukraine become a candidate for EU membership.

However, his position on Ukraine has always been clear. Orban, who is really close to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the EU, has been cautious about criticizing Russia for attacking Ukraine. He has also disagreed with the EU’s decision to put sanctions on Russian oil and gas many times.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the EU will find a way to help Ukraine, even if some countries like Hungary don’t agree.

Earlier this week, The Financial Times said that officials in Brussels might harm Hungary’s economy if Prime Minister Orban chooses to stop the aid package for Ukraine once more.

MrOrban’s political boss, Balazs Orban, said on X, which was previously known as Twitter, that Brussels is trying to force Hungary to do what it wants by using threats.

A few days after the last meeting, Mr. Orban said that EU countries could give money to Ukraine from sources other than the EU budget. He said he might use the budget and remove the veto on the money plan if they vote on it every year before giving out more money.

EU leaders probably won’t agree to this idea because it would make them vulnerable to Hungary’s veto every year.

The summit is happening while farmers have been protesting for weeks in many European countries.

Farmers are upset about new rules from the EU that are supposed to make farming more environmentally friendly. They are also unhappy that the EU is allowing Ukraine to export more grain.

Many leaders in Europe are worried about the big and long-lasting protests by farmers. They will probably ask the EU for solutions when they go to Brussels.

On Wednesday, the European Commission seemed to listen to some of the farmers’ worries and problems.

It suggested a change to a rule about leaving land uncultivated, and said the EU would put in place a way to put taxes on goods from Ukraine if there were too many coming in and it caused problems for the market.

However, the Copa-Cogeca, which represents farmers in the EU, has already stated that the safeguard mechanism will not give enough help to producers.