Scholz hopes for a strong signal to Putin at the EU summit
According to the EU, Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban before the summit. The latter then reiterated his opposition to joint aid of 50 billion euros for Ukraine and accession negotiations with Kiev.
Scholz declined to comment on the content of the breakfast with Orban. The Chancellor reiterated that Germany strongly supported the Ukraine proposals. They require unanimity of the 27 EU member states, giving Orban a right of veto.
Scholz once again expressed his opposition to increasing the EU budget framework, which runs until 2027, beyond the Ukraine aid. The Chancellor said that "Europe cannot be about deciding on very large additional expenditures". With Wednesday's budget compromise, Germany had only done what many countries were doing: "reducing expenditure items", emphasized the SPD politician.
Portugal's head of government Antonio Costa, on the other hand, said that he hoped for a "more open attitude from Germany" following the Berlin agreement. The southern Europeans and France are hoping for additional billions for future technologies and migration, as the EU Commission had also called for.
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Source: www.stern.de
