Borrell: Europe’s Military Aid to Ukraine Has Essentially Stopped Due to One Country’s Opposition
According to the english section of webangah News Agency, citing Mehr News Agency and Interfax, Joseph Borrell, former European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, stated today that most EU countries support immediate military aid to ukraine funded by profits from frozen Russian assets.
Borrell made these remarks during a press conference after the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels. he emphasized that most member states feel compelled to approve all decisions concerning the new dedicated aid fund for Ukraine soon-especially those allowing use of revenues generated from seized Russian assets.
He added: “We cannot allow EU military support for Ukraine to be held hostage by a single country’s decisions-particularly given the urgency of the situation. ukraine needs weapons now, not next year. We are currently experiencing a prolonged delay caused by differing opinions among member states,especially one country (Hungary),blocking necessary consensus. There was intense debate on this today. I hope this issue will be resolved at the next meeting.”
Borrell described this as one of “the most crucial matters and commitments we must fulfill.”
According to Russia Today news agency,Borrell also noted that EU military assistance to Ukraine has effectively stopped. Some €6.6 billion from the European Peace Facility funds have been frozen due to hungary’s objections.
This comes as Hungarian Prime Minister viktor Orbán has previously criticized Europe’s policies toward Russia,arguing that shaping policy around a “threat from Russia” is mistaken.
Orbán stated: “The assumption that Russians will come and occupy our territory is unrealistic, and our policymaking should not be based on such assumptions because unrealistic premises only lead to mistakes. Russia is currently not in a position to threaten Europe. Europe has more soldiers and stronger armies and enjoys backing from its main NATO ally-the United States. That is why Europeans-including Poland, Hungary, and Romania-have nothing to worry about.I do not believe these countries face any military threat.”