Fidesz MEPs have backed an agreement of European Union heads of state and government on the revision of the EU’s seven-year budget, as Hungary received guarantees that the funds it is entitled to “would not land in Ukraine”.
In a statement sent to MTI, the delegation highlighted that the European Parliament’s plenary session has voted in favor of a mid-term revision of the bloc’s 2021-2027 budget, including 50 billion euros in long-term aid for Ukraine. Fully 499 MEPs voted in favor of the changes, 67 against and 31 abstained. The aid for Ukraine will be disbursed over a period of four years in direct support, loans and guarantees, and will serve the war-torn country’s recovery, reconstruction and modernisation, the EP said in a statement. The EP also voted for setting up the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), “which aims to make the EU more strategically independent and to foster innovation”, the statement said. The scheme aims to promote digital green and biotechnology, the EP said. Fidesz MEP András Gyürk said STEP could provide “crucial help” for the European industry currently in a severe crisis. “European competitiveness is in ruins, many companies are mulling layoffs and leaving the continent,” Gyürk said, adding that the situation was a consequence of the industry policy of “Brussels bureaucrats” building on sanctions against Russia, “unrealistic green goals” and on growing bureaucracy. Fidesz has backed the measure as they saw STEP as a potential help in the current situation. At the same time, “a real solution to the crisis requires change in Brussels,” he said.