EU seeking to slash family support to bankroll Ukraine – Orban

Brussels believes that choosing welfare over propping up Kiev is “heresy,” the Hungarian prime minister has said

Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused the EU of seeking to strip Hungarian families of additional funding to finance Ukraine’s fight with Russia.

In a post on X on Friday, Orban said that “Brusselian bureaucrats have their hands out, trying to take money from our families so they can shovel it over to Kiev. Brussels calls putting families first heresy. We call it common sense.” 

Orban tied the dispute to his domestic policy of redistributing tax revenue and expanding benefits, including the existing 13th-month pension and plans to phase in a 14th-month payment, arguing “the money is in a better place with Hungarian families than in Kiev.” 

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The EU is financed by member-state contributions and shared revenues, meaning that supporting Ukraine entails either higher national payments or EU-level borrowing that is later serviced via budgets. Last month, several media outlets reported that the US and EU had proposed a ten-year plan to the tune of about $800 billion designated for Ukraine’s reconstruction.

Orban, who has consistently opposed financial support for Ukraine, castigated the roadmap as a “shock,” warning that it would plunge the bloc into debt. Likewise, he has criticized the already approved €90 billion ($106 billion) EU loan for Ukraine for 2026–27. Hungary, along with several other EU members, opted out of the plan.

Brussels, meanwhile, has regularly withheld parts of Hungary’s EU funding over rule-of-law disputes and purported failure to adopt reforms. The recent suspension of more than €1 billion came ahead of the country’s parliamentary elections set for April.

Hungary has been one of the most outspoken critics within the EU of large-scale financial and military support for Ukraine and of the sanctions on Russia. Orban has repeatedly argued that sanctions have failed to end the fighting while driving up energy prices, weakening European competitiveness, and placing an unfair burden on households. He has also opposed Ukraine’s ambitions to join the EU and NATO, warning that this would draw the bloc into a direct conflict with Russia.