EU agrees €50bn aid package for Ukraine

Bloc’s leaders insist there is no fatigue in their support for Kyiv after forcing Hungary PM into line

‘We don’t have a problem with so-called Ukraine fatigue, we have Orban fatigue now in Brussels’

EU leaders said their approval of a €50billion (£42.6 billion) aid package for Kyiv proved there was no “fatigue” with the war in Ukraine.

The deal was reached yesterday after the bloc overcame opposition from Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Putin’s closest EU ally, who dropped his veto on the flow of additional funds to Kyiv.

“The message is clear: Russia cannot count on any fatigue from Europeans in their support for Ukraine,” Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said after a summit of EU leaders in Brussels.

Doubts over the durability of support for Kyiv from its Western backers have buoyed Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, almost two years into his invasion of Ukraine. The about-face from Mr Orban on the vital four-year funding package came after EU heads of state and government offered a possible review of the spending in two years, where the Hungarian leader can take a figurative axe to future aid. EU officials and diplomats, however, said the language offered to Mr Orban did not amount to a full veto.

His previous opposition had exasperated EU leaders long frustrated at dealing with his role as a spoiler in the bloc, reportedly leading them to draw up a scheme to cripple Hungary’s economy unless he reversed course.

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said it was “very important” the decision was made by all 27 leaders, which proved “strong EU unity”.

He said the package would “strengthen long-term economic and financial stability” of his country, which has applied to join the EU. The money will plug holes in the Ukrainian government’s budget to allow it to pay salaries and services, as its outgunned soldiers battle to hold back Moscow’s forces.

Mr Orban’s veto on the aid at a December summit caused fury amid weakening Western support for Ukraine as the war approaches the end of its second year. Money from Washington is being delayed by Republicans in Congress and there are fears over a second Donald Trump presidency and what it could mean for Nato and support for

Ukraine. The Hungarian nationalist was accused of holding Ukraine’s future hostage in an effort to blackmail Brussels into releasing billions of euros in frozen EU funds for Budapest.

Before the summit, Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, said Mr Orban had to “decide if he is a part of our community”. “We don’t have a problem with so-called Ukraine fatigue for sure, we have Orban fatigue now in Brussels,” he said, amid calls to strip Budapest of its EU voting rights.

Asked what he would be conveying to Mr Orban, Mr Tusk said: “Nothing nice. I can’t accept this very strange and very egoistic game of Viktor Orban.”

The other leaders had said if Mr Orban did not drop his opposition, they would club together as 26 to keep aid flowing for Ukraine’s government.

The summit was expected to bring marathon talks but a deal was announced swiftly after Mr Orban met first with the leaders of Germany, France, Italy and the EU institutions.

Charles Michel, the European Council president, said: “[The] EU is taking leadership and responsibility in support for Ukraine; we know what is at stake.”

Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said the EU decision could assist Joe Biden, the US president, in convincing reluctant Republicans in Congress to pass Washington’s $60 billion proposal for support for Ukraine.

Brussels has frozen about €20 billion in EU funds for Hungary over accusations Mr Orban is running roughshod over the rule of law. They will remain frozen, regardless of the deal on aid for Ukraine, an EU diplomat said.

Mr Orban claimed the deal meant the frozen funds for Hungary would not “end up in Ukraine” and that there was a “control mechanism” at the end of the first and second year.