Hungary will not unlock €35 billion loan for Ukraine until US elections

Corrected: The headline and first sentence have been corrected

Hungary has opted not to support the EU decision to provide Ukraine with a €35 billion loan at the expense of profits from frozen Russian assets until the presidential election in the United States.

Source: Mihály Varga, Hungary's Finance Minister, on Tuesday, 8 October, writes Euronews, as reported by European Pravda

Details: According to Varga, the two US presidential contenders, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, advocate opposing methods to settling Russia's war against Ukraine: "One, in the direction [of] peace. And [the other] continue to the war."

As a result, the Hungarian minister stressed that the EU should plan the following steps based on who the Americans choose.

Quote: "We believe that this issue should be decided – the prolongation of the Russian sanctions – after the US elections. That was the Hungarian position… We have to see in which direction the future US administration is going [on] this issue," he added.

This concerns the US$50 billion loan plan for Ukraine, agreed upon by G7 leaders, that will be repaid with profits from frozen Russian assets – meaning that Kyiv will not have to return the money.

The EU should provide €35 billion under the terms of the proposal, but this requires a reform in the sanctions mechanism, which allows for the freezing of assets in the EU.

Whether this extension should be formalised forever or for longer durations than the normal half-year was a source of contention in Brussels.

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