EU summit: The European Parliament asks von der Leyen not to pay a “ransom” to Orban | outside

The stakes for the summit on Thursday and Friday are clear: will the EU be able to fulfill its commitment to begin accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova, and does Kiev stand to receive fifty billion euros in structural financial support? There can be no doubt about this for 26 of the 27 EU countries, but Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán poses a problem. He wants to hold a “strategic discussion” at the summit about European relations with Ukraine.

As it stands, the European Commission will propose to release Hungary on Wednesday afternoon €10 billion worth of frozen cohesion funds. It is entitled to do so simply because it has implemented the reforms required to strengthen the independence of the Hungarian judicial system, the argument goes, but the decision cannot of course be separated from the efforts made by the summit.

Portuguese Social Democrat Pedro Marques criticized on Wednesday morning in the European Parliament, during a discussion with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, that “giving a check to Orban now is tantamount to paying a ransom.” Marquez fears that other European “bullies” will follow Orbán’s strategy.

Also, according to Hilde Footmann (Open VLD), Orbán should not be “surrendered.” “If we give him one finger, he takes our whole hand,” she said. Footman asks the Council to continue the ongoing Article 7 procedure, giving Orban “not a single cent of European money” and depriving him of voting rights so he cannot exercise his veto power.

Von der Leyen himself did not comment on Orban’s shadow at the summit, but said Europe must prove what it means when it says it will support Ukraine “as long as it is necessary.” He added: “We must give Ukraine what it needs to be strong today, so that it can come to the negotiating table with a stronger Russia tomorrow.”