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Hungary's Orban Calls EU Russian Asset Freeze "Declaration of War"
(MENAFN) Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban launched a sharp rebuke against the European Union's strategy to confiscate frozen Russian financial reserves, characterizing the move as an act of aggression on Saturday.
Orban took aim at multiple EU figureheads—including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European People's Party leader Manfred Weber, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen—according to Magyar Nemzet. The Hungarian leader accused them of favoring market-based borrowing schemes without evaluating individual member states' capacity to bankroll Ukraine's military conflict.
"There is the Russian money, or the possibility of collecting money from the member states, which would serve as the basis for a larger loan," Orban said.
Hungary intends to block any EU maneuvers that circumvent Budapest's involvement in accessing Russian financial holdings, the prime minister declared.
"I'm going to Brussels to fight, with the fact that they are reaching for Russian assets bypassing Hungary. This is a declaration of war. I've never seen anything like this, where €200-300 billion ($235-352 billion) worth of assets are lost, with no consequences," he noted.
Orban described the situation as unprecedented, pointing to Russian funds immobilized in Belgium following the war's outbreak. "The Russians' money was frozen in Belgium when the war broke out, and they want to touch this now. This is an extremely unusual and dangerous thing," he added.
Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini echoed concerns about the asset freeze, labeling it dangerous and careless, a news agency reported. With 314 Italian businesses maintaining operations in Russia that generate jobs and income, Salvini stressed economic realities.
"The Italian government did well to make things clear, because, after all, we are in a free market, we are not at war with Russia... It seems to me that Brussels is playing with fire," he said.
As the EU advances proposals to leverage frozen Russian state funds for Ukrainian loans, multiple nations including Belgium have voiced legal objections. The majority of these assets sit at Euroclear in Brussels, raising jurisdictional questions.
Russia's central bank has condemned the plan as unlawful and pledged to deploy all necessary countermeasures to defend its financial interests.
The bloc authorized permanent immobilization of Russian assets on Friday, with EU leadership poised to finalize Ukraine funding allocation during the Brussels summit scheduled for Dec. 18-19.
Orban took aim at multiple EU figureheads—including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European People's Party leader Manfred Weber, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen—according to Magyar Nemzet. The Hungarian leader accused them of favoring market-based borrowing schemes without evaluating individual member states' capacity to bankroll Ukraine's military conflict.
"There is the Russian money, or the possibility of collecting money from the member states, which would serve as the basis for a larger loan," Orban said.
Hungary intends to block any EU maneuvers that circumvent Budapest's involvement in accessing Russian financial holdings, the prime minister declared.
"I'm going to Brussels to fight, with the fact that they are reaching for Russian assets bypassing Hungary. This is a declaration of war. I've never seen anything like this, where €200-300 billion ($235-352 billion) worth of assets are lost, with no consequences," he noted.
Orban described the situation as unprecedented, pointing to Russian funds immobilized in Belgium following the war's outbreak. "The Russians' money was frozen in Belgium when the war broke out, and they want to touch this now. This is an extremely unusual and dangerous thing," he added.
Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini echoed concerns about the asset freeze, labeling it dangerous and careless, a news agency reported. With 314 Italian businesses maintaining operations in Russia that generate jobs and income, Salvini stressed economic realities.
"The Italian government did well to make things clear, because, after all, we are in a free market, we are not at war with Russia... It seems to me that Brussels is playing with fire," he said.
As the EU advances proposals to leverage frozen Russian state funds for Ukrainian loans, multiple nations including Belgium have voiced legal objections. The majority of these assets sit at Euroclear in Brussels, raising jurisdictional questions.
Russia's central bank has condemned the plan as unlawful and pledged to deploy all necessary countermeasures to defend its financial interests.
The bloc authorized permanent immobilization of Russian assets on Friday, with EU leadership poised to finalize Ukraine funding allocation during the Brussels summit scheduled for Dec. 18-19.
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