Gal: Ceasefire, fair, lasting peace needed in Ukraine as soon as possible

Kinga Gal told Hungarian journalists after a debate on the Belgian presidency’s programme and help for Ukraine that financial support for Ukraine was important but it was necessary to clarify first how much money had been spent on the war already and how this support had been used.

Hungary would not support the plan to take out a joint EU loan for helping Ukraine, she said. “The situation involving a prolonged war makes it difficult to plan ahead for four years; it is difficult to tell what type of financing Ukraine will need,” she said. It would be important to review the support annually, and European leaders should discuss this proposal at the extraordinary meeting to be held on Feb 1, she added.

The Belgian presidency should return to the discussion of “Brussels’ forced and faulty migration pact” because the consequences of Europe’s migration policy “are now suffered by innocent people in the streets of western Europe, while anti-Semitism is growing stronger,” she said.

“Fundamental changes are needed to stop illegal migration at the external borders,” she said. “Member states that protect external borders should receive financial support from Brussels,” she added.

She called for an end to “double standards concerning the rule of law in EU decision-making”. She said it was unacceptable that Hungary was regularly targeted while “Brussels has been deeply silent for weeks about violations of the law in Warsaw.”

She expressed hope that the EP elections in June would bring about change and “the sovereigntist side can finally put an end to Brussels’ hypocrisy”.