By Athena Papakosta

“We are the voice of common sense in Europe”, stressed the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, speaking to the Parliament of Hungary, on the eve of the start of the two-day Summit in Brussels where the leaders of the “27” are invited to give the green light for the start of Ukraine’s accession negotiations, the provision of new military aid to Kiev for the war with Russia, and the provision of new economic aid to Volodymyr Zelensky’s country.

“The war, the corruption, the vast agricultural sector and the discrimination against the country’s Hungarian minority exclude Kiev from the process of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union in the near future,” Orban emphasized threatening a veto and demanding trade-offs to change his stance. “If there is no positive news from Brussels, it will mean that Putin has exercised a veto,” the Ukrainian president said, blaming Budapest.

It’s already been a bad week for Volodymyr Zelensky, who returned from the United States empty-handed as he failed to convince Republicans to allow funding for a new aid package to Ukraine.

However, the European Commission in a last-minute maneuver to avoid a European wreck decides to release 10 billion euros from the Cohesion Fund for Hungary. In the relevant announcement, in fact, the Commission emphasizes that Budapest’s reforms to improve the independence of its judicial system are sufficient.

“We must give Ukraine everything it needs to be strong today so that it will be stronger tomorrow at the negotiating table for a long and just peace in Ukraine”, emphasized the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

after all, most European leaders side with Kiev – even Robert Fico’s Slovakia which a few weeks ago announced it was ending military aid to Ukraine. They insist that the start of accession negotiations with Kiev is a symbolic act but also an act of solidarity.

“We have done everything. We have fulfilled all the recommendations of the European Union” clarified by the Ukrainian president as the European Commission has already announced that six of the seven conditions that had been set since the start of the accession talks have now been met. To this, however, Budapest disagrees and Kiev responds by passing a bill that allows members of Hungarian and other minorities to be able to study in their native language in Ukraine while also giving the green light to an anti-corruption bill further weakening the Orban’s arguments.

Zelensky also wants to receive the official invitation of the Europeans for the start of accession negotiations which paves the way for the “bloc” of 27 but also the provision of aid for his country at war and all eyes are on the Hungarian prime minister and the attitude he will take.