Brussels. May 22. INTERFAX - The provision of a new tranche of financial assistance to Ukraine and the next package of sanctions against Russia raises a number of questions not only for Hungary, but also for some other EU countries, said the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrel.
"This issue is not only about Hungary, many countries have objections and would like to discuss it," he told reporters ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Earlier, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that the Hungarian authorities would block the allocation to Ukraine of the next tranche of EU financial assistance in the amount of 500 million euros in connection with Kiev's actions.
"It's fair to say we've had enough," he said.
In addition, Szijjarto stated Budapest's unwillingness to support further EU sanctions against Russia. At the same time, he pointed to "Kiev's increasingly aggressive attitude towards its neighbor, the European Union."
Szijjarto gave examples of Ukraine's policies that arouse criticism in Budapest. The Minister recalled that Kiev has included the Hungarian OTP bank in the "black list" of organizations doing business with Russia, as well as the infringement of the educational rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine.
"I want to make it clear: as long as the OTP is on the list of international sponsors of war, we cannot support solutions that require new economic and financial sacrifices from the EU and its member states. The same applies to sanctions," Szijjarto explained.
