The Hungarian government ‘will not give in to blackmail’, Minister of European Affairs János Bóka said in a Facebook post on Monday, 29 January in reaction to press reports suggesting that EU members could try and withhold community funding from Hungary ‘unless the EU summit on 1 February passes a decision on aid to Ukraine’.
János Bóka claimed the reports
‘support the Hungarian government’s assertion that Brussels uses access to funding for exerting political pressure’.
‘Hungary does not link aid to Ukraine with its accessing EU funds and rejects others’ doing so. Hungary has been a constructive participant in negotiations and will not give in to blackmail,’ the minister went on to declare.
MP and former Minister of Justice Judit Varga also chimed in on the matter. She too published a lengthy post to her Facebook page. She commented on a front page story ran by the London-based newspaper Finincial Times, saying:
‘This is how Brussels has always worked: we are being blackmailed for stopping illegal migration, beating back LGBTQ madness, and rejecting to get involved in the war.
Even the President of the Commission does not deny this. Blackmail instead of negotiation, threats instead of constructive dialogue…We won’t shut up! Moreover, we will be getting louder in Germany, France, Belgium and across the EU. Listen carefully, Brussels: Hungary will never give in to blackmail! The EP campaign begins, we learn to drive a tractor!’
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Sources: MTI/Hungarian Conservative