Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, widely considered one of President Trump’s closest ideological allies among European heads of state, remarked on Thursday—after a contentious meeting with EU leaders in Brussels—that the bloc lacks the financial resources to sustain Ukraine, a nation heavily reliant on both funds and materials, in its ongoing conflict with Russia.
“The EU doesn’t have a single penny left. It has spent all of its money,” Prime Minister Orban said in comments given to the Hungarian YouTube channel Patriota.
“[The EU] talks about wanting to continue arming Ukraine, maintaining the Ukrainian army, and funding the functioning of the Ukrainian state… but can’t find any money in its pockets. I think it’s empty promises,” Orban added.
On the same day—the first day of a European Council summit in Brussels, where the EU’s 27 heads of state gathered to discuss Ukraine, as well as economic, energy, defense, and foreign policy—Orban announced that he had vetoed the European Union’s pro-war consensus on Ukraine and criticized President Volodymyr Zelensky’s approach.
For sensitive proposals, such as those related to foreign or security policy, the European Council—composed of the 27 heads of state in the EU—requires unanimous approval from all member states. This is known as the unanimity rule.
Hellbound and Down 