Financial Times: Europe’s eye on Hungary… Its economy will be targeted if it blocks support for Ukraine

The Financial Times reported that the European Union has developed a secret plan to prevent Hungary from vetoing new aid to Ukraine, at a summit to be held later this week.

According to the British newspaper, the plan is to sabotage the Hungarian economy, strike investments and obstruct support projects allocated to Budapest, which is considered a major escalation in the conflict between the European Union and member states close to Moscow.

According to the document prepared by European Union officials, which was seen by the Financial Times, Brussels has developed a specific plan to target economic weaknesses in Hungary, which puts the Hungarian currency at risk, and could lead to a decline in investor confidence and affect jobs and growth; This is if Budapest decides to block the new aid package allocated to Kiev.

Viktor Orban, Hungarian Prime Minister, previously pledged to prevent the EU budget from being used to provide 50 billion Euros in financial aid to Ukraine at an emergency summit of EU leaders on Thursday.

Brussels said, “If he (Orban) doesn’t reverse his decision, the European Union leaders must announce their commitment to permanently stop funding Budapest, with the aim of striking the internal markets of the European country,” which is considered one of Moscow’s most prominent allies, according to what was stated in the secret document.

The Financial Times noted that Europe is telling Viktor Orbán, “Enough is enough, it’s time to stand in line”.

“You may have a gun, but we have a bazooka,” said Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at Eurasia Consulting Group.

The European document stated, according to the Financial Times, that in the event that an agreement isn’t reached at the February 1 summit, the other heads of state and government will announce this publicly in light of what they described as the unconstructive behavior of the Hungarian Prime Minister; Therefore, the arrival of EU funds to Budapest cannot be guaranteed”.

The document indicates that after European funding for Hungary stops, investment interests in Budapest from financial markets and European and international companies will decline.

This penalty could quickly increase the cost of financing the public deficit and depreciate the value of the country’s local currency.

János Boka, Hungarian Minister of European Affairs, told the Financial Times, “Budapest had no knowledge of this threat, but his country isn’t giving in to pressure”.

Boka added, “Hungary doesn’t link support for Ukraine with obtaining European Union funds, and rejects other parties doing so,” stressing that “Hungary participated and will continue to participate constructively in the negotiations”.

In a sign of growing pressure on Budapest to reach a compromise, Boka stated that his country submitted a new proposal to Brussels on Saturday.

He explained that it’s fully prepared to use the European Union budget in the aid package for Ukraine and even issue a joint debt to finance it.

However, if some obstacles are added, this will give Budapest the opportunity to change its mind at a later time.

In the document issued by an EU Council official, Hungary’s economic vulnerabilities were clearly and systematically identified, and include a significantly increased public deficit, high inflation rate, and also a weak local currency.

Brussels has previously used its financial influence against member states in the bloc, such as with Poland and Hungary over rule of law concerns and against Greece during the Eurozone crisis, but the strategy of explicitly seeking to undermine a member state’s economy would represent a major new step for the bloc.

Three European Union diplomats told the Financial Times that a large number of countries support the plan.

Meanwhile, a European Council spokesman declined to comment on the leaked documents.