Europe paralyzed on Ukraine as Hungary blocks military fund - former top diplomat

The European Union’s military support to Ukraine has come to a near standstill following the end of Josep Borrell’s five-year term as the bloc’s top diplomat, due to a veto from Hungary, he said in an interview with EUobserver in Madrid.

Borrell, who led EU foreign policy from 2019 to 2024, reflected on Europe’s current geopolitical paralysis as the war in Ukraine drags on with no clear end in sight. “Since I left, there’s been no new military aid to Ukraine from the EU. The €6.6bn from the European Peace Facility are blocked because of Hungary. This was the end of this instrument. Everything will have to be bilateral now,” he said, Caliber.Az reports.

Hungary, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has repeatedly used its veto power to obstruct EU decisions, including sanctions against Russia and financial support for Kyiv. “Sanctions are approved unanimously by EU countries. That’s how it is. We’re not going to change that, because it would require changing the treaties. That’s not going to happen,” Borrell said.

The former Spanish foreign minister painted a stark picture of the battlefield stalemate in Ukraine, warning that Russia remains capable of prolonging the war for years. “The war won’t end soon, for one very simple reason: because Putin is in no hurry. He has the human resources to sacrifice as many as needed. Ukraine doesn’t. It has a shortage of military manpower,” Borrell said.

He added that Russia continues to access material support from its allies: “Russia still has resources, and it has China behind it, which supplies them with equipment — not weapons, but materials that can be converted into weapons. On top of that, they can bring in North Korean soldiers. They can also buy military equipment from North Korea, so Russia can prolong this for years.”

Despite the impasse, Borrell stressed that neither side has achieved victory. “Russia hasn’t won this war, because Zelenskyy is still in Kyiv. It hasn’t lost either, because it hasn’t been pushed out of the occupied territories. And Ukraine is in the reverse situation—it hasn’t won, because Russia is still there, but it hasn’t lost either. And that stalemate will depend heavily on both sides’ ability to endure—and especially on our willingness to help.”

He warned of a potential turning point if the United States were to scale back its support for Kyiv. “The big question for European society is: if the US stopped supporting Ukraine, could we or would we, which is not the same, continue supporting them in a way that makes up for the loss of American aid?”

With the European Peace Facility effectively frozen, future military aid to Ukraine is likely to come through bilateral arrangements between member states, raising concerns about the EU's long-term unity and resolve.

As Borrell made clear, “We’re stuck.”

By Vafa Guliyeva