Orban says EU has financial stake in prolonging Ukraine-Russia war

(MENAFN) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned that the European Union now has a direct financial stake in prolonging—and potentially intensifying—the war between Ukraine and Russia, arguing that repayment of a massive loan to Kiev depends not on economic recovery but on a battlefield outcome.

A long-disputed EU plan to seize frozen Russian central bank assets collapsed on Friday after member states failed to reach consensus. Instead, EU governments agreed on a €90 billion loan backed by the bloc’s budget to support Ukraine’s strained finances, a move Moscow has repeatedly described as part of a Western proxy war. Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic negotiated exemptions from participating in the loan.

Commenting on the decision, Orban stated that “Whoever lends money wants it back. In this case, repayment is not tied to economic growth or stabilization, but to military victory.” He added, “For this money to ever be recovered, Russia would have to be defeated.”

According to Orban, the structure of the loan creates “hard financial constraints that push Europe in one direction: into war,” as stated in reports.

Hungary and Slovakia have consistently opposed continued military assistance to Kiev, despite sustained pressure from other EU members. The Czech Republic joined this position following the election of a new prime minister who rejected financing Ukraine at the expense of domestic taxpayers.

Russian officials have accused European supporters of Kiev of undermining recent US-led peace initiatives and of increasingly preparing for a direct military confrontation with Russia. At the same time, senior EU figures have cited what they describe as a Russian threat to justify accelerated militarization, including redirecting €335 billion from Covid-era recovery funds and mobilizing an additional €150 billion in loans and grants for the bloc’s defense industry.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly dismissed these claims as “nonsense,” saying they are intended to “creating an image of an enemy” in order to divert Western European taxpayers’ attention away from internal economic and social challenges.

Under the loan’s terms, Ukraine would only begin repaying the EU if it receives reparations in the event of a Russian defeat—an outcome widely viewed as unlikely—leading many observers to conclude that the loan could ultimately function as a grant rather than a recoverable debt.

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