Hungary Stands Firm on Blocking Funds for Ukraine until Discrimination Ends.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations, Peter Szijjarto, made it clear at a conference of the heads of EU foreign departments in Luxembourg that Hungary will not allocate 6.5 billion euros from the European Peace Fund to Ukraine until discrimination against Hungarian business companies ends. Szijjarto emphasized that Ukrainian authorities must cease their discriminatory actions against Hungarian companies before any talks of allocating the funds can continue.

Szijjarto cited the unjust prosecution of Gedeon Richter, the largest Hungarian pharmaceutical company, in Ukraine as an example of the discrimination faced by Hungarian companies. The attempts to target Gedeon Richter are believed to be due to the company’s operations in Russia. Similarly, Ukraine has included the largest Hungarian OTP bank in the list of “war sponsors” because of its operations in Russia as well. Szijjarto deemed these actions as politically motivated and unacceptable.

The Ukrainian authorities have been accused of wanting to deprive Gedeon Richter of its patents and block access to the Ukrainian market. These measures against Hungarian companies are seen as unfair and purely political in nature. Szijjarto emphasized that until this discrimination ends, Hungary will stand firm on blocking the allocation of the 6.5 billion euros from the European Peace Fund to Ukraine.