A confidential plan drawn up by EU officials seeks to sabotage Hungary’s economy if Viktor Orbán’s government blocks aid to Ukraine, according to the Financial Times who report that they have seen the document in question.
The EU will sabotage Hungary’s economy if Budapest blocks fresh aid to Ukraine at a summit this week, under a confidential plan drawn up by Brussels that marks a significant escalation in the battle between the EU and its most pro-Russian member state.
Hungary has repeatedly clashed with the European Union on issues such as migration, energy prices, land acquisition by foreign citizens, transparency, family policies, and the war in Ukraine.
Now, the Financial Times reports: “Brussels has outlined a strategy to explicitly target Hungary’s economic weaknesses, imperil its currency and drive a collapse in investor confidence in a bid to hurt “jobs and growth” if Budapest refuses to lift its veto on the aid to Kyiv”.
Orbán had vowed to block an additional €50 billion in aid to Ukraine which was set to be approved at a February 1st summit – though his officials said that they had proposed a compromise with Brussels if caveats were added to the plan.
Balázs Orbán, political adviser to the Premier, said that Brussels was “using blackmail against Hungary like there’s no tomorrow”.
Brussels is using blackmail against Hungary like there’s no tomorrow, despite the fact that we have proposed a compromise.❌
As @FT reports: ‘@JanosBoka_HU said Budapest sent a new proposal to Brussels on Saturday, specifying it was now open to using the EU budget for the… pic.twitter.com/ftH8dCpohJ
— Balázs Orbán (@BalazsOrban_HU) January 29, 2024
The document seen by the Financial Times planned for other EU leaders to publicly declare that all EU funding to Hungary be permanently shut down “with the intention of spooking the markets, precipitating a run on the country’s forint currency and a surge in the cost of its borrowing”.
“This is Europe telling Viktor Orbán ‘enough is enough; it’s time to get in line. You may have a pistol, but we have the bazooka’,” said Mujtaba Rahman, Europe director at Eurasia Group, a consultancy.
The document declares that “in the case of no agreement in the February 1 [summit], other heads of state and government would publicly declare that in the light of the unconstructive behaviour of the Hungarian PM . . . they cannot imagine that” EU funds would be provided to Budapest.
Without that funding, “financial markets and European and international companies might be less interested to invest in Hungary”, the document stated. Such punishment “could quickly trigger a further increase of the cost of funding of the public deficit and a drop in the currency”.
Earlier this month the Hungarian Premier said that “Brussels is turning a blind eye to the real problems of European people: war, migration and economic troubles. It’s time to make a change in Brussels”.
János Bóka, Hungary’s minister for EU affairs said on X that: “The document, drafted by Brussels bureaucrats only confirms what the Hungarian Government has been saying for a long time: access to EU funds is used for political blackmailing by Brussels.”
Hungary does not give in to blackmail!
The document, drafted by #Brussels bureaucrats only confirms what the Hungarian Government has been saying for a long time: access to EU funds is used for political blackmailing by Brussels. https://t.co/x5NExCufYm
— Bóka János (@JanosBoka_HU) January 28, 2024
However, Belgian MEP and president of European Movement International, Guy Verhofstadt, said that “Orbán is self-sabotaging Hungary’s economy by undermining its very foundations – financial as well as legal, hence international credibility – and the EU finally refuses to pour money down an autocratic black hole.”
Secret sabotage plan ? Strange way to put it…
Truth is: Orbán is self-sabotaging Hungary’s economy by undermining its very foundations – financial as well as legal, hence international credibility – and the EU finally refuses to pour money down an autocratic black hole !…
— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) January 29, 2024
The Financial Times said that “a strategy to explicitly seek to undermine a member state’s economy would mark a major new step for the bloc”.