(MENAFN) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Wednesday criticized the European Commission’s plan to raise an additional €135 billion ($156 billion) for Ukraine, warning that the funding push would saddle future generations of Europeans with debt, according to reports. His comments come amid a major corruption scandal in Kyiv.

On X, Orban wrote that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had “once again asked the member states for additional funds to finance Ukraine and the war.” He argued that the requested amount equals 65% of Hungary’s annual economic output and nearly three-quarters of the EU’s yearly budget, describing it as an “astronomical sum” that “simply does not exist today.”

Orban added that the Commission’s plan—likely involving a joint European loan—would mean “even our grandchildren would be burdened with repaying the costs of the Russian-Ukrainian war,” calling the proposal “categorically absurd.”

Von der Leyen has reportedly urged EU governments to quickly agree on measures to cover Ukraine’s military and financial needs for the next two years. Funding options include bilateral contributions, EU joint borrowing, and a potential reparations loan from Russia’s frozen assets.

Orban likened the proposal to attempting to “help an alcoholic by sending them another crate of vodka,” and criticized it especially amid reports of corruption in Ukraine. Last week, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) opened an investigation into a “high-level criminal organization” allegedly led by Timur Mindich, a former business associate of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Investigators claim around $100 million in kickbacks linked to nuclear operator Energoatom were funneled through Mindich’s network.

Orban noted that the EU had already spent €185 billion ($214 billion) since the conflict escalated in 2022, warning that the war “kills the EU economically” and urging Brussels to prioritize diplomacy with Moscow instead.

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