According to the European External Action Service, the debt of the European Union to several states that provided military assistance to Ukraine reached €7.16 billion.
Citing information from diplomatic sources, defaulting on these loans would disrupt Ukraine's regular access to financial assistance. At the moment, funds are transferred through the military aid fund recently established for these purposes.
The new fund suggests a debt repayment to EU member states under strict conditions. Thus, to assess the current situation, the government will take into account all weapons supplied to Ukraine instead of the sum of money a particular state spent to replenish its military arsenal.
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported that a new fund created by the European External Action Service will allow EU members to override Hungary's veto of the bloc's aid to Kyiv. The structure of the new fund will reportedly make it possible to avoid subterfuge used by Budapest as leverage.
From time to time, Hungary blocks multi-billion aid for Ukraine. These funds are allocated from the general budgets of the euro-block member countries. Earlier, Hungary expressed disapproval over the allocation of €20 billion. Budapest stated that there was no point in financially supporting Ukraine until it reported on previous spending.
In December 2023, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blocked 50 billion euros in EU aid for Ukraine. "If we want to help Ukraine, which I think we need to do, we have to do it in a way that doesn't harm the EU's budget," Orban said.
