Hungary’s latest attempt to disrupt Ukraine aid isn’t about money — it would penalize the EU. It’s about making friends with Donald Trump.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is preparing to serve up a major policy gift for his best friend across the Atlantic, former United States President Donald Trump.
He’s concocted a way to let Trump, if he successfully makes it to the White House for a second term come November, wriggle out of a $50 billion loan the U.S., the European Union and leaders of the G7 offered to Ukraine to back its fight for survival against Russia. That would let Trump off the hook, allowing him to tell Republican voters that, if elected, he won’t give Ukraine another cent.
Hungary says it won’t consent to a change in rules that would allow Washington to play a major role in the loan until after the U.S. election.