European Union leaders have agreed to open membership talks with Ukraine even as it continues to fight Russia’s invasion, but they could not agree on a 50-billion-euro package of financial aid for Kyiv due to opposition from Hungary.
At a summit in Brussels, other leaders bypassed objections from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban by getting him to leave the room while they took the historic step of agreeing to start accession negotiations with a country at war.
But they could not overcome resistance from Orban – who maintains close ties to Russia – to a revamp of the bloc’s budget to channel vital financial support to Ukraine and provide more cash for other EU priorities such as managing migration.