BRUSSELS: Talks between European Union countries aimed at agreeing on more aid for Ukraine later this week remain “difficult,” a senior EU official said on Tuesday, despite Hungary having signalled its readiness for a compromise.
EU leaders meet on Thursday to try agree on extending 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in aid to Ukraine through 2027, as well as replenishing a military fund to arm Kyiv as it fights Russia’s almost two-year-old full-scale invasion.
Hungary is among the EU’s most Russia-friendly countries. It has already once blocked the aid package and has also voiced opposition — along with EU paymaster Germany — to topping up the military fund.
“We are not there yet,” the EU official said under condition of anonymity, referring to preparations for the Thursday summit in Brussels of the leaders of the bloc’s 27 member states.
As the EU mounts pressure on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to agree, the official said Budapest’s conditions for lifting its veto on the financial assistance to Kyiv were not acceptable to the other EU countries.
The official added that Hungary’s EU peers did not want to agree to review any support to Kyiv every year as that would give Orban a veto each time.
EU deal for Ukraine ‘difficult’ despite move by Hungary -official
https://arab.news/cu5du
EU deal for Ukraine ‘difficult’ despite move by Hungary -official
- Hungary is among the EU’s most Russia-friendly countries
- “We are not there yet,” the EU official said under condition of anonymity
Kyrgyzstan parliament speaker resigns after spy chief sacking
- Japarov is seeking re-election next year in a country that was once a regional leader in terms of openness
BISHKEK: Kyrgyzstan’s parliament speaker said Thursday he would step down, two days after President Sadyr Japarov dismissed the Central Asian country’s powerful secret service chief and arrested political figures who called for early elections.
In a surprise move, Japarov had sacked his one-time close ally — spy chief Kamchybek Tashiev — in a decision Bishkek said was meant to “prevent division in society.”
Japarov is seeking re-election next year in a country that was once a regional leader in terms of openness, though marked by political volatility.
Rights groups have accused him of authoritarian tendencies, as he seeks to assert his control and cast himself as a bringer of stability.
Speaker Nurlanbek Turgunbek uulu — close to the sacked security boss — told MPs he would step down, insisting that he was not resigning under pressure.
“Reforms initiated by the president must be carried out. Political stability is indispensable,” he said.
Kyrgyzstan has in recent years been de-facto governed by the Japarov-Tashiev tandem.
Both came to power in the wake of the 2020 revolution — the third since Bishkek gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Several NGOs have in recent months denounced the deterioration of freedom of expression in Kyrgyzstan.
Japarov had unexpectedly sacked Tashiev and three of his deputies on Tuesday, also weakening the powers of the secret services.
Japarov rarely speaks publicly. His spokesman had said the decision was taken “in the interests of the state, with the aim of preventing divisions within society, including between government structures, and to strengthen unity.”
Tashiev was in Germany for health treatment when the sacking was announced and had said it was a “total surprise” to him.
The decision came the day after the publication of an open letter from 75 political figures and ex-officials calling to bring forward presidential elections — scheduled for January 2027.
Five of those who signed the letter — which criticized the economic situation in the country — were arrested Wednesday on charges of organizing mass riots.
