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EU summit won’t be able to decide on expropriation of Russian assets — Hungarian PM

Viktor Orban said that if this issue is put to a vote, it will not be able to gain the support of a sufficient majority

BRUSSELS, December 18. /TASS/. EU countries will not be able to decide on the expropriation of Russian assets frozen in the West because they will not be able to muster the necessary votes, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

"Last night, I saw that a sufficient number of countries are against such a decision, and we will be able to gather enough votes to block it. Therefore, I think that if this issue is put to a vote, it will not be able to gain the support of a sufficient majority. Therefore, I think that this issue has been removed from the agenda," the prime minister told reporters ahead of the start of the EU summit in Brussels.

Reporters also asked Orban whether he would agree to EU countries granting Ukraine a joint loan, which they would have to repay from their national budgets. The prime minister replied that he did not yet know what other proposals would come from the European Commission instead of the expropriation of "frozen assets, an issue that can be considered closed."

At the same time, he pointed out that, in accordance with the Hungarian Constitution, the government can only participate in such borrowing with parliament's permission. "I do not have such powers, and I do not believe that parliament will ever authorize any Hungarian prime minister to pay debts in accordance with an EU loan," Orban said.

"Thus, for Hungary, the path to financing Ukraine through a joint loan is by no means feasible," the prime minister concluded.

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