The European Commission has urged EU member states to plug Ukraine\u2019s widening budget deficit amid the unfolding corruption scandal<\/p>\n
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has blasted the European Commission for urging EU members to send more money to Ukraine in light of the major corruption scandal, saying Kiev\u2019s \u201cwar mafia\u201d is siphoning off European taxpayers\u2019 funds.
\nCommission President Ursula von der Leyen sent a letter to EU capitals on Monday urging a swift deal for covering Ukraine\u2019s military and financial needs for the next two years. According to the letter, which was cited by the media, Kiev\u2019s widening budget gap is around \u20ac135.7 billion (over $152 billion). She outlined three possible sources of funding \u2013 voluntary bilateral contributions by member states, joint borrowing at the EU level, and a reparations loan based on Russia\u2019s immobilized assets.
\nOrban wrote on X that he had received the letter, which said Ukraine\u2019s financing gap was \u201csignificant\u201d and urged EU member states to send more money.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s astonishing. At a time when it has become clear that a war mafia is siphoning off European taxpayers\u2019 money, instead of demanding real oversight or suspending payments, the Commission President suggests we send even more,\u201d he wrote, in an apparent reference to the massive corruption scandal recently uncovered in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
I received a letter today from President @vonderleyen. She writes that Ukraine\u2019s financing gap is significant and asks member states to send more money. It’s astonishing. At a time when it has become clear that a war mafia is siphoning off European taxpayers\u2019 money, instead of\u2026\u2014 Orb\u00e1n Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) November 17, 2025 <\/p>\n
Orban likened the approach to \u201ctrying to help an alcoholic by sending them another crate of vodka,\u201d adding that \u201cHungary has not lost its common sense.\u201d\u00a0
\nUkrainian anti-corruption agencies uncovered earlier this month an alleged criminal operation led by a former business partner of Vladimir Zelensky,Timur Mindich, which siphoned around $100 million in kickbacks from contracts with the country\u2019s nuclear power operator, Energoatom. The company is heavily reliant on foreign aid.
\nThe graft scandal emerged as Kiev is pushing its sponsors for a \u20ac140 billion loan backed by Russian central bank assets frozen by the West \u2013 a plan opposed by Belgium, where most of the immobilized funds are held. Moscow regards any use of its assets as \u201ctheft\u201d and has vowed a legal response.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Graft scandal has weakened Zelensky \u2013 Le Monde<\/p>\n
The scandal could provide significant arguments for European politicians advocating reduced aid to Ukraine, Le Monde reported. Kiev has been also struggling to secure a new loan from the IMF.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The European Commission has urged EU member states to plug Ukraine\u2019s widening budget deficit amid the unfolding corruption scandal Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has blasted the European Commission for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t