Diplomats leaked: Germany and Hungary had heated argument over Ukraine behind closed doors
The Hungarian government is rather proud of its amicable rapport with Germany that extended throughout the Merkel era. However, after the “regime change” in Europe’s biggest economy, the cooperation remained purely economic. In the political sphere, the two leaders are yet to meet for a bilateral negotiation. FM Szijjártó and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, had a heated discussion during a closed-door meeting yesterday in Brussels. The topics of the dispute included Ukraine and the EU military aid for Kyiv.
As we wrote earlier, Hungary had announced that it would block a EUR 500M military aid package for Ukraine last week. Following FM Szijjártó’s relevant announcement, the forint started to plummet. Later, news came that Hungary will not support the latest EU sanctions concerning secret service agents and jurisdiction officials taking part in the condemnation of a well-known Russian opposition journalist. Since Hungary is an equal member of the European Union (and NATO), it can veto all decisions that need a consensus.
Yesterday there was a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels concerning issues related to ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine and the EU’s answers. The meeting was behind closed doors, but some diplomats who asked to remain anonymous revealed some details to Politico. They mentioned a dispute between Hungary and pro-Ukraine EU member states, but it was “civilized and in a normal framework of the discussion.”
Sweden and Estonia also slammed Hungary for its stance concerning the latest EU aid for Kyiv and the aforementioned sanctions package. Needless to say, Germany’s standpoint is most important when it comes to resolving the issue. Berlin is Europe’s greatest economic power. German companies have multiple investments in Hungary. We wrote HERE that, allegedly, Hungarian secret services often take profitable foreign companies by force, but they have never interfered with German interests. On the contrary, the government even helps decrease the rights and powers of the trade unions to ease the operation of German firms in Hungary.
End of good relationships with Germany?
It appears that the economic cooperation between Hungary and Germany remained untouched. But in diplomacy, there are undeniable tensions. There are no bilateral summits, and the German foreign minister slammed FM Szijjártó yesterday for the Hungarian government’s stance towards Hungary’s OTP Bank. Kyiv added the Hungarian bank on the list of war sponsors last week. Mrs Baerbock cited unspecified reports that OTP recognises “Russian-occupied territories of Luhansk and Donetsk — contravening international law — and has extended credit lines to Russian soldiers”, Politico wrote. Szijjártó fired back fiercely, saying that those are fake news and cited an OTP announcement in that regard. Placing OTP to the list of war sponsors harms the institution’s interests. That is why the government wants its prompt removal.
Josep Borell, the EU’s top diplomat, said after the meeting that they will continue to work through the differences. “We have to do everything we can to [get] the next package of military support to Ukraine … approved,” he told reporters. “If one member state has a difficulty, let’s discuss it, that’s what we are going to do.” EU defence ministers will meet today to discuss Ukraine’s military support.
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