Viktor Orbán

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has embarked on a visit to Budapest at the invitation of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in his second trip to the country within four months, aimed at deepening ties.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban recently made headlines by asserting Hungary's potential to intervene in Ukraine's EU accession process, should the need arise. Orban referred to the EU's decision as merely a symbolic gesture, implying that Hungary retains the power to halt Ukraine's progress into the EU.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Dec. 15 blocked 50 billion euros ($55 billion) in EU aid for Ukraine, after leaders side-stepped his opposition to agree to open talks with Kiev on joining the bloc.

The EU released 10.2 billion euros ($11 billion) of funding for Hungary on Wednesday, the eve of a summit on support for Ukraine that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has threatened to derail.

The European Commission insisted Hungary had undertaken measures to improve the judiciary's independence, therefore meeting the requirements to access the money.

The European Commission announced on Tuesday evening that it is unfreezing the allocation of 10.2 billion euros from the cohesion funds to Hungary, after a few hours earlier Budapest published the last part of the adopted judicial reform - a condition for the allocation of the money.

Hungary threatened on Monday to block Bulgaria's bid to join the Schengen area if fees for the transfer of Russian gas are not removed.

The Financial Times reports this, citing three sources familiar with the discussions (noting that the Hungarian authorities have not commented officially).

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday urged the bloc's 27 leaders to back massive financial aid for Ukraine and Kyiv's ambitions for membership talks, ahead of a crunch summit.

"We must give Ukraine what it needs to be strong today. So it can be stronger tomorrow at the table when it is negotiating a long lasting and just peace," the European Commission president told MEPs.

Ukraine's foreign minister warned European Union leaders yesterday that if they fail to agree to open membership talks with Kiev at their summit this week it will have "devastating consequences."

"I cannot imagine," Dmytro Kuleba told reporters in Brussels "I don't even want to talk about the devastating consequences that will occur shall the Council fail to make this decision."

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called on European Union leaders to refrain from making decisions on initiating negotiations for Ukraine's membership and withholding financial aid at next week's summit in Brussels. Orban's plea comes amidst the European Commission's proposal to consider Kyiv's readiness for negotiations, contingent on further obligations by March 2024.

The central bank governors of Poland and Hungary are caught up in noisy disputes with opponents over their rate-setting policy, raising new hazards for investors willing to brave central Europe's bitterly polarized politics.