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Most EU leaders back new Ukraine aid, Hungary & Slovakia voice doubts

[October 27, 2023] By Jan Strupczewski and Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Most European Union leaders on Friday backed granting more financial support to Ukraine as it fights a Russian invasion, but Hungary and Slovakia voiced reservations ahead of a decision the bloc needs to make unanimously in December.

The EU executive has proposed that the bloc's 27 countries chip in more funds in a revision to its shared budget to finance additional shared spending through 2027, including extending 50 billion euros ($52.8 bln) in new aid to Kyiv.

"There is a strong view that we need more money for Ukraine, almost unanimity for that," Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said in EU leaders' talks on the matter in Brussels. "But there is very little agreement on where we would find the money."

Overall EU support for Ukraine has totalled almost 83 billion euros since Russia invaded in February 2022, the Brussels-based executive European Commission said this week.

Beyond sending it money and arms, the bloc has also imposed rounds of sanctions on Russia. The summit in Brussels is meant to highlight the bloc's continued support for Kyiv even as a new war rages in the Middle East.

"The European Union will continue to provide strong financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes," a draft joint statement from the EU leaders reads.

SLOVAKIA JOINS HUNGARY

But Hungary has emerged as a vocal critic of the policy, and Slovakia's Robert Fico, recently installed as prime minister for the second time, seemed to have joined the Hungarian camp in his first summit since being appointed in Bratislava on Wednesday.

Fresh from meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, Orban said on Friday that EU strategy of sending money and military aid to Ukraine to help it fight against Russia has failed.

"The Ukrainians will not win on the battlefield," he said as footage from the start of the summit on Friday showed him standing alone while other EU leaders greeted one another on arriving in their discussions chamber.

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A view of the city at sunset, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 22, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo

Orban has also said he would not endorse in its current form the proposed EU budget revision, which includes the 50 billion in new aid for Kyiv.

But he did not reject the proposal outright either, suggesting there is scope for horse-trading ahead.

Budapest is trying to unlock billions in aid earmarked for Hungary in the EU budget but blocked by the European Commission over accusations that Orban has damaged democracy in his country.

Fico said there was endemic corruption in Ukraine as he demanded that any new aid include guarantees that the funds not be misappropriated, according to a statement from his office on Friday. He also said Bratislava would stop providing military support to Ukraine.

"Ukraine is among the most corrupt countries in the world and we are conditioning what is excessive financial support on guarantees that European money (including Slovak) not be embezzled," he said.

Fico himself resigned as Slovakia's prime minister in 2018 amid protests after the murder of a journalist who had spent years investigating state corruption. The leftist veteran of Slovak politics has repeatedly swatted away accusations of graft that have dogged his party.

"What I can say is that both of them didn't refuse the possibility for providing aid to Ukraine, even for a long time," Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov told reporters.

"The questions are, what type of aid and how it is used, how we are sure, the European Union is sure, that this aid is used efficiently," he said.($1 = 0.9477 euros)

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Phil Blenkinsop, Bart Meijer, Tassilo Hummel, Marine Strauss, Krisztina Than, Jason Hovet, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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