Hungary still opposes the next tranche of the European Peace Facility financing arms shipments to Ukraine, because Kiev has still not removed the Hungarian OTP Bank from their list of international war sponsors.Continue reading
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has sent a letter congratulating Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on his election victory.
“Please allow me to take this opportunity to congratulate you on the electoral victory of the New Democracy party and on your reappointment as Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic. In recent years, we have done a lot to promote friendly relations between Hungary and Greece. In these times of international challenges, the importance of our cooperation based on mutual respect is particularly enhanced,” Viktor Orbán wrote.
In a letter, @PM_ViktorOrban congratulated @PrimeministerGR @kmitsotakis on his election victory, emphasizing the importance of the friendly relations between Hungary and Greece. PM Orbán expressed joy in continuing the joint work and further strengthening bilateral ties,… pic.twitter.com/CQGj6DHVqZ
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) June 28, 2023
The Prime Minister expressed his pleasure that “we can continue the joint work we started earlier and further strengthen our bilateral relations in the areas of stopping illegal immigration, securing energy supplies and supporting the integration of the Western Balkan countries into the European Union.”
Recently, both Hungary and Greece spoke out against the list of international war sponsors compiled by Ukraine, which included Hungarian and Greek companies.
The Hungarian government has been objecting for weeks to the inclusion of OTP Bank on the list, and has indicated that until the Ukrainian authorities remove the Hungarian bank from it, the government will not approve the next €500 million tranche of the European Peace Facility (EPF).
In the case of Greece, several Greek companies that had preserved some level of relationship with Russia, albeit not in violation of the current international sanctions, were on the Ukrainian list. Athens has signaled earlier that they might not sign the 11th sanctions package of the EU until the Greek companies are removed from the list.
In an interesting turn of events, the Greek companies have been removed from the international war sponsors list, but the Hungarian bank still remains on it.
Meanwhile, the EU Member States, including Hungary, have voted in favor of the 11th sanctions package and the EU has decided to increase the EPF budget.
Featured photo via Twitter/Zoltan Kovacs