Report on the European Union's Financing for Ukraine and the Economic Measures Required by Hungary in This Context

Key Chapter Title List

1. Introduction: Report Purpose and Background
2. Overall Stance of EU Institutions on Support for Ukraine
3. Position of the European Council on Increasing Financial and Military Support for Ukraine
4. Provided and Ongoing Financing for Ukraine
5. New Financing Mechanisms and Legal Basis for 2026-2027
6. Economic Impact Assessment on Hungary
7. Conclusions and Policy Implications

Document Introduction

This report, prepared by the Hungarian Ministry for EU Affairs, aims to comprehensively examine the full range of support provided to Ukraine by the European Union and its member states since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022. Building on this, it focuses on analyzing the specific potential impacts on the Hungarian economy and its citizens from the large-scale new financing plans continuously promoted at the EU level. The core of the report lies in revealing the shift in EU policy priorities, which now places support for Ukraine above Europe's own economic interests and competitiveness, and in assessing the economic burdens and strategic risks this policy shift brings to member states, particularly non-major participants like Hungary.

The report first systematically reviews the firm supportive stances and various resolutions expressed by major EU institutions—including the European Council, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Committee of the Regions, and the European Economic and Social Committee—across political, financial, economic, humanitarian, and military domains since the conflict began. These documents consistently emphasize the commitment to providing Ukraine with regular, predictable financial and military assistance, and call on member states to increase support, upgrade sanctions against Russia, and support Ukraine's EU membership process. The report clearly states that Hungary has expressed reservations or opposition in several of these common position documents.

In the quantitative analysis section, the report provides precise data as of the report's writing date: since February 2022, the EU and its member states have disbursed a total of 193.3 billion euros in aid to Ukraine. This enormous sum covers military assistance (63.3 billion euros), financial, economic, and humanitarian aid (51.6 billion euros), loans and grants provided through the Ukraine Facility (36.67 billion euros), support for Ukrainian refugees in the EU (17 billion euros), bilateral aid from member states (15 billion euros), and the transfer of interest from frozen Russian assets (3.7 billion euros). The report contrasts this amount with the total net aid Hungary received from all EU sources over the twenty-year period from 2004 to 2024 (73 billion euros), highlighting the unprecedented scale of aid to Ukraine.

The report focuses on analyzing the new financing package for 2026-2027, drafted based on the European Council conclusions of December 18-19, 2025. This package plans to provide an additional 90 billion euros in loans to Ukraine by borrowing on international financial markets, guaranteed by the headroom of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The non-military assistance portion will be provided through the Macro-Financial Assistance instrument under Article 212 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The key mechanism is that this aid will be implemented through an enhanced cooperation model, with 24 member states currently indicating participation, while Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia will not participate. This means relevant decisions will be adopted by participating states within the Council by qualified majority and agreed upon by the European Parliament, with all costs borne by the participating states.

Based on the above analysis, the report proceeds to its core assessment section: the economic impact of these financing commitments and mechanisms on Hungary. The report points out that the EU's temporary trade measures for Ukraine and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) agreement grant Ukraine unreasonably broad access to the EU internal market, driven primarily by political rather than trade considerations. The agricultural quotas in the agreement, which inadequately consider the interests of European producers, and the lack of sufficient market disruption safeguards, have already caused significant damage to Ukraine's neighboring countries, including Hungary. Furthermore, the large-scale financing commitments to Ukraine, especially those conducted through the EU budget mechanism or joint borrowing, could long-term affect the EU's overall fiscal space and fund allocation, thereby indirectly impacting the interests of all member states, including Hungary. The implicit conclusion of the report is that the current EU policy path centered on Ukraine may continue to subordinate the economic interests of specific member states and bring unpredictable fiscal burdens.