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Hungarian PM objects to sending tax dollars to Ukraine, advocates spending money at home

Viktor Orban has repeatedly confirmed that his government calls for resolving the Ukraine conflict peacefully and has no plans to spend Hungarian taxpayer money on further military activities in the country

BUDAPEST, December 22. /TASS/. Budapest prefers to spend citizens' tax dollars on roads and other domestic needs rather than funding further war in Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

Speaking at the ceremonial opening of a section of highway in the central part of the country, he pointed out that the European Union summit held on December 18-19 had decided to provide Ukraine 90 bln euros in an unprecedented "war loan." Hungary refused to participate but if it had agreed, it would have to contribute over one bln euros. "Meanwhile, the highway section that we have just commissioned cost us 170 billion forints (some 440 million euros)," Orban stressed.

"This money is better spent on the construction of a modern road here in the Great Hungarian Plain than directed to the ruined Donbass or filling the pockets of a Ukrainian oligarch," the Hungarian premier added.

Orban has repeatedly confirmed that his government calls for resolving the Ukraine conflict peacefully and has no plans to spend Hungarian taxpayer money on further military activities in the country. Budapest has also pointed to the extremely high level of corruption in Ukraine, demanding Brussels compel Kiev to provide a detailed report on how it spent the funds received from EU countries.

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