Pro-Putin Orban says no to EU budget unless Brussels releases suspended funds

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a crowd on Saturday in Baile Tusnad, Romania, that he would not approve the European Union’s 2028–2034 budget unless the bloc unfreezes the EU funds allocated to Hungary. He said:

“The approval of the new seven-year budget requires unanimity, and until we get the remaining [frozen] funds, there won’t be a new EU budget either.”

According to Reuters, the EU froze billions in funding over long-running disputes with Budapest about the rule of law, LGBTQ rights, and migration policies.

The proposed €2 trillion budget, roughly $2.35 trillion, from the European Commission aims to support economic growth and defense spending. But under EU rules, every member state has to agree, and Orban is blocking it. He’s tying budget approval to the release of the money Brussels has withheld from his government during years of legal fights.

Orban warns Brussels over 2026 elections, blasts support for Ukraine

During the same speech, Orban accused EU leaders of trying to interfere in Hungary’s 2026 elections by backing opposition forces. He claimed the bloc is working to install what he described as a “pro-Ukraine and pro-Brussels government” in Budapest, referring to rising rival Peter Magyar, who now leads the Tisza party, a center-right opposition group outpacing Orban’s Fidesz party in polls.

Peter Magyar, speaking Saturday at a rally, said Hungary’s future must remain tied to the EU and NATO, but criticized the current draft of the budget. He said, “Hungary is an EU member, and our relations as allies cannot be built on a political style of putting a spoke in the wheel.”

He made it clear that Tisza wouldn’t support the proposed budget in its current form but would reopen talks if his party won the 2026 vote. “We need to make a clear and firm decision that our place has been and will be in Europe,” he added, while condemning Orban’s deepening ties with Russia.

Orban also took aim at Donald Trump’s critics in the EU. He warned that Brussels is on a collision course with Washington, saying EU officials are risking a trade war with Trump’s White House, one that Europe “cannot win.” He added, “The current leadership of the EU will always be the last to sign deals with the United States and always the worst deals.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is scheduled to meet Trump in Scotland on Sunday, as Brussels scrambles to negotiate a trade deal. But Orban isn’t expecting much to come out of it, blaming EU leadership for the strained relationship.

From anti-Kremlin to Putin’s closest friend in the EU

Years ago, Orban was one of the most anti-Russian voices in Hungarian politics. In 2007, he slammed former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány for getting too close to Moscow, warning that Hungary needed protectionist policies against authoritarian powers like China and Russia.

But after the 2008 financial crash, Orban began shifting his outlook. He saw America’s influence slipping and believed the world was heading into a multipolar era, with Russia and China becoming equals to the U.S.

That belief led to his Eastern Opening Policy in 2010. The policy was crafted to counterbalance Hungary’s Western alliances and prioritize new relationships with strong non-Western states. The most visible outcome of this pivot was the Paks Nuclear Power Plant agreement, a long-term energy deal with Russia that made Hungary financially dependent on Moscow for decades.

Then came 2014, when Russia invaded Ukraine. Unlike most of the EU, Orban rejected sanctions on Vladimir Putin. Brussels and NATO officials labeled Hungary a “Trojan Horse”, accusing Orban of quietly doing Russia’s work from inside the EU. It didn’t help that Putin visited Budapest twice—once in 2015 and again in 2017, to strengthen bilateral ties.

By 2019, concerns about Hungary’s growing partnerships with Russia and China had reached Washington. The Trump administration then invited Orban to the White House that year, drawing harsh criticism from Brussels and the United Nations. Two years later, Hungary became the first EU country to approve the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, despite warnings from the bloc.

In 2021, Hungary’s delegates to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) teamed up with Russia to challenge Ukraine’s Indigenous law, which recognizes certain ethnic groups as native but excludes Russians. That alignment further confirmed Orban’s foreign policy direction.

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