As Brussels nears its deadline for deciding how—never mind whether—to fill Ukraine’s funding gap, the condemnation of the EU member states that are resisting some or all the attempts to top up Kyiv’s coffers is really ramping up.
After Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Saturday that confiscating frozen Russian assets would amount to “a declaration of war” by the bloc, and called again for “PEACE, not escalation,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha dubbed him “Russia’s most valuable frozen asset in Europe.” Other political figures, including in the Czech Republic and Estonia, also accused Orbán of “helping Russia” and of “betrayal.”
❌ Bypassing Hungary and raping European law in broad daylight, the Brusselians are making moves to seize frozen Russian assets – a declaration of war. Meanwhile, they demand €135 billion more from member states to fuel the conflict. Hungary will not play along in this twisted… pic.twitter.com/u1voxmoD32
Even the deputy prime minister of Poland, Radosław Sikorski, jibed that by defending Hungary’s own interests, the nation’s PM “has earned his Order of Lenin,” and later reached a new low, suggesting that Hungary would be on Russia’s side were it to invade Europe today.
Responding to Sybiha’s initial attack—although, in a sense, to all those too that followed over the weekend—Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó pleaded on Sunday:
Would you please finally understand: this is your war, not ours!!
Szijjártó also told the Polish deputy PM that while “we understand you really want a Russia vs. Europe war … we will not let ourselves be dragged into your war!!”
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico likewise said on Friday that “if for Western Europe the life of a Russian or a Ukrainian is worth s**t, I do not want to be part of such a Western Europe.” He added that while he is willing to put taxpayer cash towards the “reconstruction” of Ukraine “on the basis of bilateral negotiations between the Slovak and Ukrainian governments,” he will not back “anything” that “would lead to support for Ukraine’s military expenditures”—that is, to more “senseless killing.”
Today I held an almost hour-long phone conversation with the President of the European Council, A. Costa. I fully respect him, but while he spoke about money for the war in Ukraine, I kept repeating the senseless daily killing of hundreds to thousands of Russians and Ukrainians.… pic.twitter.com/0f9JiitWjG
For this “truly repulsive post” post, he was, of course, questioned about “whether you belong to Europe with such views.”
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
