Brussels Times: Viktor Orbán was stuck in the toilet and missed the vote

The EU has agreed that Ukraine will receive EUR 50 billion. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has not vetoed the aid package, which many are happy about.

In one of the biggest news in EU history, the 27 EU member states have agreed that Ukraine will receive EUR 50 billion from the EU budget until 2027. Many feared that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán would veto the package again, but it did not happen.

According to Spiegel, the latest breakthrough came after a small group of people met with Viktor Orbán, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The editorial staff of the Belgian Brussels Times joke column Le Chou News, however, had a different view of Orbán’s retreat. They reacted on Twitter with a photoshopped image of Viktor Orbán falling on the floor of a toilet. The meme was posted just minutes after the results of the vote were announced, when many people suddenly wondered why Orbán had not vetoed the decision, rtl.hu reports.

Ominous omens

In December, Viktor Orbán went out for coffee and did nothing to prevent Ukraine’s EU candidate status, but he vetoed the financial support package at the time. The Hungarian and world press have been wondering whether Hungary would veto this time too, and whether there could be any backroom deal that can convince Viktor Orbán. The veto failed, but it remains to be seen how the EU managed to convince Hungary.

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Orbán answer

The Hungarian government “has fought for and been given a guarantee” that funds due to Hungary “cannot be sent to Ukraine”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a video posted on Facebook on Thursday, adding that Hungary was not participating in the war, was not sending weapons, and was on the side of peace.

Following an extraordinary EU summit in Brussels, Orbán said European Union leaders had negotiated for many hours over “whether to support Ukraine and if so, in what way and with how much money”. “That’s the point when talks broke down last December, when Hungary did not receive answers to the issues,” he said.

“We were concerned that EU funds due to Hungary, which the country has not yet received from the European Commission, would sooner or later end up in Ukraine. And we were also afraid that we would provide Ukraine funding for the long run” without any oversight, Orbán said.

Leaders at the summit negotiated an oversight mechanism to ensure “the reasonable use of EU funds”, he said, while “Hungary has received a guarantee that funds it is entitled to will not end up in Ukraine,” Orbán said, adding that “Hungary accepted this offer after long negotiations”.

Orbán also welcomed the positive reaction by the international markets to the agreement.

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