Orbán slams EU move to freeze Russian assets indefinitely, calls it 'declaration of war'
Photo: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (Getty Images)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has sharply criticized the European Union’s decision to indefinitely freeze Russian assets, according to Magyar Nemzet.
"Seizing hundreds of billions belonging to another state has never gone unanswered in history. This is a declaration of war," Orban said during a meeting with voters in the city of Mohács, ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for April next year.
The Hungarian prime minister noted that ignoring Budapest when making decisions on Russian assets showed that “the illusion of the rule of law in Brussels has evaporated.”
He also warned his supporters that they should prepare for "Brussels’ third attempt to win elections in our country."
"Our national reserves are kept in the same place as Russia’s — with the Belgians. If they get their hands on that money, we will also have to think about whether our funds are truly safe. Russian money was frozen in Belgium after the war began, and now they want to touch it. This is an extremely unusual and dangerous move, because the Belgians have an agreement under which they are responsible to Russia for its funds," Orbán added.
According to him, if Europeans go ahead with this step, “other countries may eventually stop keeping their money in euros.”
He also recalled that Europeans were initially told the war would be financed “not from their own pockets, but from Russian assets.”
The Hungarian prime minister stressed that European leaders will now have to admit that the war is being paid for not only by current Europeans, but will also be paid for by their grandchildren.
"All these European leaders will fail, because it will turn out that they cannot finance this war using Russian assets," Orbán said.
EU freezes Russian assets indefinitely
As a reminder, on December 12, European Union countries agreed to freeze Russian assets worth €210 billion indefinitely. This means the decision will no longer need to be renewed every six months.
Reuters уточнює that EU governments agreed to freeze Russian assets “for as long as necessary,” instead of voting every six months to extend the measure.
This decision removes the risk that Hungary and Slovakia — which maintain relatively warm relations with Russia — could block the extension of the asset freeze, potentially allowing the money to be returned to the aggressor.
An indefinite freeze may also persuade Belgium to support the EU plan to use these funds to provide Ukraine with a so-called “reparations loan” of up to €165 billion to cover its military and civilian budget needs in 2026 and 2027.
EU leaders are expected to meet on December 18 to finalize the details of the reparations loan and resolve outstanding issues, including guarantees for Belgium that it would not be left alone to cover potential costs if a lawsuit by Moscow were to succeed.
