Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced a plan to send loans of up to €150 billion to EU governments to help them boost military spending as they grapple with the need to rethink their defense infrastructures without U.S. support.
Macron has sought to lead European efforts toward increased unity in response to Trump’s moves, organizing two consecutive meetings in Paris with allied nations.
For its part, Hungary has repeatedly attempted to derail joint European efforts to bolster Ukraine — and Budapest was notably not included in either of the Paris meetings.
Unlike most European leaders, Orbán sided with Trump after the U.S. president subjected his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy to a public reprimand in the Oval Office. “Strong men make peace, weak men make war,” Orbán posted on X.
Orbán, along with his Slovakian ally Robert Fico, has called for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and opposed security guarantees and new aid for Ukraine.
In a letter sent on March 3 to Orbán and seen by POLITICO, the President of the European Council António Costa noted “there is a divergence on the path to achieve peace and, in particular, the ‘peace through strength’ approach.”
Nicholas Vinocur contributed to this report.