Hungary voted against – EU training mission to Ukraine without Austria

“We support this mission, we will also vote for it, but participation is not currently planned,” emphasized Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP). Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP) also ruled out Austria’s active participation and direct involvement of the Austrian Armed Forces in the training mission. Her spokeswoman told the APA on Monday. “We will continue on the Austrian path and will continue to support Ukraine in the light of solidarity and European unity and also in the context of Austrian neutrality.” Austria therefore also supports the mission.

Assist with non-lethal equipment
But he doesn’t rule out anything for the future, Schallenberg said. In addition, it must be decided to allocate another EUR 500 million to the purchase of weapons and equipment. Due to its neutrality, Austria would abstain “constructively”, Schallenberg explains. However, Kiev will be supported with non-lethal gear, such as winter clothing. There is a “constant flow of aid from Austria to Ukraine and it certainly will not stop,” he added.

Hungary was the only Member State not to vote for the EU military training mission. The right-wing government in Budapest took advantage of the possibility of constructive abstention, MTI news agency quoted Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó as saying. The government has not blocked the mission, but Hungary will not participate and will not contribute to the costs. “We don’t think anything leading to an escalation is a good idea,” the minister stressed, lamenting that the word “peace” was not used in any speech other than his own. Szijjártó described the atmosphere of the meeting as “quite combative”.

As Borrell suggests, EU countries have also increased military aid to Ukraine. According to him, a total of 3.1 billion euros is now available, about 500 million euros more than before. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had previously confirmed that about 15,000 soldiers from Ukraine should be trained on EU territory. According to reports, Berlin wants to train some 5,000 soldiers. The EU wants to “support Ukraine as best it can in its right to self-defense”, emphasized Baerbock.

Mission originally designed for two years
According to diplomats, the new EU Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM) Ukraine is by far the EU’s largest training mission for a third country. The mission is initially set to run for two years. Poland is therefore the largest head office, a smaller one is in Germany.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba took part in the Luxembourg deliberations via video link. According to Borrell, he spoke to his EU colleagues from a bomb shelter during a Russian attack.

According to EU diplomats, the cost of the mission is estimated at 50 to 60 million euros per year. EUMAM Ukraine is funded by the EU Peace Facility. This is a fund directly financed by the Member States outside the EU budget, for a total amount of EUR 5.7 billion. The EU also pays for joint arms purchases to Ukraine. About three billion euros has now been earmarked for this.

Proposal for joint gas purchases
In addition, the European Commission presented rules for joint gas purchases by the EU on Tuesday afternoon. The project is part of a new package in the fight against high energy prices. With its concentrated market power, the EU wants to negotiate lower prices. According to a concept, gas companies should bundle their demand for at least 15 percent of the prescribed storage capacity. This amount would then be negotiated centrally with the gas suppliers.