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EU going to punish Orban over his stance on Ukraine — media

According to the source, the EU believes that Hungarian representatives can forget about retaining any important posts in the EC

BRUSSELS, May 30. /TASS/. Leaders of some EU member states are going to punish Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban over his stance on Ukraine by giving Hungarians fewer influential positions in the European Commission (EC) going forward, the European edition of the Politico newspaper reported citing sources in European diplomatic circles.

According to a newspaper's source, the EU believes that Hungarian representatives can forget about retaining any important posts in the EC. Orban's critics are going to prevent the reappointment of Hungarian diplomat Oliver Varhelyi as EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, and they are not interested in appointing any other Hungarian to the post, Politico's source added.

According to the newspaper, EC head Ursula von der Leyen, who has been repeatedly criticized by Orban, is among the European politicians in favor of reducing Hungary's representation in the EC.

On May 23, Orban expressed hope that Western countries would refrain from sending their troops to Ukraine and transferring arms that could be used to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. In addition, Hungary has previously repeatedly blocked the allocation of EU tranches of military aid to Kiev.