This was done at the EU summit eve, where Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban promised to vote against providing aid to Ukraine.
Hungary will receive funds from the EU
The European Commission has unblocked 10 billion euros of EU funds for Hungary, frozen due to the rule of law issues, ahead of an EU summit at which Viktor Orbán promised to block financial and political support for Ukraine.
After a thorough assessment and several exchanges of views with the Hungarian government, the Commission considers that Hungary has taken the measures it has undertaken to take in order for the Commission to consider that the horizontal condition of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is fulfilled in the part concerning the independence of the judiciary.
This means that part of the funding of the Cohesion Policy will no longer be blocked, and therefore Hungary can start claiming payments in the amount of about 10.2 billion euros, the commission said in a statement.
The Commission said it will closely monitor the application of the measures introduced by Hungary. If, at any point in time, the EC considers that the conditions are no longer met, it may decide to freeze the funding again.
From now on, Hungary will be able to apply for funding of EU projects and receive compensation according to how the funds of the European Union are distributed.
The statement said the Commission decided after Orbán's government passed laws to strengthen the judiciary's independence.
For weeks, the Prime Minister of Hungary has threatened to veto the European Union's plans to allocate 50 billion euros to Kyiv over the next four years, as well as the decision to start negotiations on Ukraine's EU membership, if his country's funding is not fully unblocked.
It is unclear whether the decision to unfreeze 10 billion euros will be enough to convince Orbán to lift his veto. A senior official from Hungary said the day before that his country wants a favourable decision on unblocking more than 30 billion euros.
Nevertheless, officials and diplomats hope that by Friday, it will be possible to agree on at least a package of financial support for Kyiv.
Orban continues to obstruct the movement of Ukraine to the European Union
Putin's henchman insists that the issue of starting negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU should be decided in the light of whether it is beneficial for official Brussels, particularly for Budapest.
According to him, Kyiv's quick accession may have unforeseen consequences.
The accession of Ukraine under the accelerated procedure does not meet the interests of either Hungary or the EU. If EU rules are not taken seriously, the European Union will cease to exist, Orban said.
The pro-Russian politician once again cynically complained that the Ukrainian authorities allegedly did not fulfil the conditions for the start of negotiations, repeating his team's thesis that since 2015, Ukraine has "deprived Hungarians of the rights they used to enjoy."
Return these rights. We are not asking for a new law, we are asking Ukraine to restore the previous law, the Hungarian Prime Minister said.
Viktor Orban is also traditionally concerned that official Brussels has allowed importing agricultural products for Kyiv and cancelled the permit system for transporters.
According to Orbán, this allegedly harms the interests of his country.
We are not yet talking about the accession of Ukraine, but already tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Hungarians may lose their means of livelihood, the pro-Russian politician laments.
