Slovak leader expresses support for Hungarian Orbán in EU negotiations on financing Ukraine

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The leaders of Hungary and Slovakia said on Tuesday they agreed on the need to rework the European Union's plan to provide financial aid to Ukraine . It's a potential boon for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who last month derailed EU efforts to approve funding for the war-ravaged country.

After bilateral talks in Budapest, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he agreed with Orbán's position that the EU should not finance a planned 50 billion euro aid program euros ($54 billion) to Kiev from the bloc's common budget, and echoes Orbán's claims that the war in Ukraine cannot be resolved by military means.

"We have listened very carefully to the proposals that Prime Minister (Orbán) (...) has already put forward regarding the revision of the budget and aid to Ukraine, and I repeat that we consider them rational and sensible." Fico said.

Fico's comments come as the EU scrambles to save the financing plan for Ukraine that Orbán blocked in December, a move that angered many leaders of the bloc who sought to provide Kiev with a constant cash flow. for the next four years.

Unanimity is required for decisions affecting the EU budget, and Orbán was the only one of the bloc's 27 leaders to vote against the funding.

“If we want to help Ukraine, which I think we must do... we must do it without harming the EU budget,” Orbán said on Tuesday.

EU leaders are expected to meet again on February 1 to try to reach an agreement on the financial package, but Orbán's veto power remains a factor.

On Tuesday, Fico said that he supported Orbán's recommendation that the funding be separated into four tranches that could be reassessed, and potentially blocked, each year.

"I look forward to seeing you soon on February 1 in Brussels, where we will observe with full understanding your legitimate fight for what you started at the last European Council," Fico told Orbán.< /p>

Populist whose party won the September elections on a platform Pro-Russian and anti-American, Fico is seen as a potential ally of Orbán in the latter's long-running conflicts with the EU.

The bloc has refused billions in funding to Budapest due to concerns that Orbán's government has suppressed judicial independence, media freedom and the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

Some Orbán critics within the EU believe that he used his veto over aid to Ukraine as leverage to access frozen funds. On Tuesday, Fico cited the withheld funds as...