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BRUSSELS ― European Union leaders are likely to endorse military support for Ukraine but without the support of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
At an emergency summit Thursday in Brussels, Orbán, who hasn’t hidden his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, is threatening to veto an EU-wide push to replace American military aid. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the freezing of military assistance to Kyiv on Monday.
“Achieving ‘peace through strength’ requires Ukraine to be in the strongest possible position, with Ukraine’s own robust military and defense capabilities as an essential component,” a draft joint statement seen by POLITICO reads. “The European Union remains committed, in coordination with like-minded partners and allies, to providing enhanced political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people.”
The text, which would need the support of all 27 member states to be issued on behalf of the European Council, also vows to step up pressure on Russia by imposing further sanctions and better enforcing existing ones “in order to weaken its ability to continue waging its war of aggression. “
As the summit continues, diplomats from the EU’s other 26 countries are exploring ways to move forward without Hungary.
While that may enable a technical fix, it would again expose the difficulties the EU has in formulating a consistent position toward Putin ― and Trump.
Coalition of the willing
If Orbán follows through on his threats, one option is for leaders to issue the joint statement on less contentious areas, such as on increasing funding for domestic defense, on which Hungary agrees — and leave the remaining 26 member states to issue a separate message on Ukraine.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, told reporters that leaders are considering creating a “coalition of the willing, so that one country cannot block everybody else.”
Doing so would challenge the fundamentals of the EU, but could ensure it is able to present a coherent foreign policy.
Ultimately, though, implementing sanctions and other key measures at the EU level would still require unanimity — paving the way for further showdowns with Orbán.
Fears that Slovakia could join Hungary in holding up an agreement have subsided after populist Prime Minister Robert Fico secured wording in the joint text that would commit the EU to supporting Bratislava in its efforts to pressure Ukraine to restart Russian gas pipelines running across its territory.
“Fico is still pragmatic,” said Milan Nič, a senior fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations. “The new feature is that Orbán is digging deep alone — because he is now even more convinced that the EU is going to erode due to Trump.”
