European Union members can get around Hungary’s opposition to joint aid for Ukraine by striking a separate deal among the 26 other states at a summit early next year, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told reporters Thursday.

Hungary’s government maintains its opposition to joint EU aid via the bloc’s budget, the premier said.

Any assistance for Ukraine should be awarded for a shorter duration than the current proposal, Orban said, adding that the matter should be considered separately from disputes over the EU’s funding for Hungary.

Orbán laments that Ukraine's accession to EU will deprive Hungary of all European money.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has claimed that once Ukraine joins the EU, all Central European support – including that for Hungary – will be directed to Kyiv.

Source: Hungarian news outlet Index, citing Orban in an interview on TV2 Hungarian TV channel

Details: Orbán added that never before in the history of Europe has a country at war sought to be a member of the European Union.

However, Orbán noted that it was unclear whether Ukraine would join the EU with the territories currently under Russian control. It is worth noting that neither the EU nor Kyiv is currently considering this option.

"There is no doubt that if we accept Ukraine, all the aid that has been granted to Central European countries, including Hungary, would be directed to them," the Hungarian prime minister lamented, providing no explanation for his allegations.

Background: At the EU summit on 14 December, EU leaders supported the opening of negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.

Although the decision on Kyiv had long been blocked by Hungary, its veto was overridden by persuading Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to leave the room during the vote and thus abstain from voting.

Orbán himself later claimed that he agreed to give up his veto right at the start of Ukraine’s EU accession talks since he would have many more opportunities to block this process.