Magyar unlocks €6.6 billion EU weapons cash

Three weeks after taking office, Péter Magyar removed the veto Viktor Orbán had kept in place for two years. On 1 June, Hungary's ambassador to the EU's Political and Security Committee, the Brussels body that handles EU defence policy, signalled that Budapest would stop blocking the European Peace Facility. That is the off-budget fund used to reimburse member states for roughly 40% of the weapons they donate to Ukraine from national stockpiles (Euromaidanpress, NewsUkraine). The immediate effect is the release of €6.6 billion frozen since 2024.

Magyar made the political limit clear in Berlin the same day: "Hungary will send neither soldiers nor weapons to Ukraine" (Tagesschau). The EPF does not require it to. It pays back other countries, including Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden, for weapons already sent. Orbán's veto did not stop those arms reaching Ukraine. It stopped allied governments from being reimbursed.

The 72-hour deal that nobody called a deal

Two days before the EPF move, the European Commission agreed to release €16.4 billion in cohesion and recovery funds, EU money for infrastructure and economic development, that had been frozen under Orbán over rule-of-law concerns (Euronews, Ara.cat). On 3 June, Magyar announced an agreement with Ukraine on minority rights for roughly 100,000 ethnic Hungarians in Zakarpattia: language protections, Hungarian-language schooling, and administrative rights in communities where Hungarians exceed 10% of the population (HVG).

No official described it as a package. But the sequence was hard to miss. Within 72 hours, Hungary unlocked the EPF, the Commission unlocked Hungary's money, and Ukraine offered concessions on minority rights. Berlin moved quickly to bless the shift, with Chancellor Merz calling Magyar "an inspiration for all of Europe" (Tagesspiegel).

Magyar sold the outcome at home as proof of competence: "In three weeks we achieved what Orbán couldn't in ten years." Fidesz attacked from the other side, alleging hidden conditions and a "war tax" on Hungary (Origo). Both versions avoid the central mechanism. Lifting the EPF veto did not cost Hungary money, because the fund reimburses other governments, not Budapest.

A fund that cannot cover its promises

The relief is real, but limited. EU member states have submitted reimbursement claims totalling €43 billion for weapons donated to Ukraine (Eurointegration). The EPF covers roughly 40%, leaving around €26 billion unpaid. The fund's original envelope is almost exhausted (Kyiv Independent).

Slovakia's defence minister Robert Kaliňák gave the clearest example of the shortfall. Bratislava expected €250 million after donating MiG-29 fighters and S-300 air defence systems. It will receive about a tenth of that (Topky.sk). Sweden, which has committed 21 support packages worth around 103 billion kronor, expects at least 60 billion kronor back but has been given no timeline (Göteborgs-Posten).

The veto stays loaded

For smaller member states, including Malta, the lesson is familiar: unanimity can turn a national objection into EU-wide leverage. The structural weakness that allowed one government to freeze billions for two years has not been fixed. Every EPF disbursement still needs the approval of all 27 member states, because foreign and security policy remains tied to unanimity under the EU treaties. A future government can recreate the same blockade overnight. Slovakia showed the method in 2025, vetoing the 18th sanctions package six times before securing energy guarantees from the Commission (Euronews).

The EU has avoided unanimity in newer tools, including the €90 billion Ukraine Support Loan, by allowing dissenters to sit out. The EPF, the instrument that actually reimburses governments for weapons already sent, still runs on unanimity. That makes the vulnerability part of the design.

Orbán's government has also filed a case at the EU's General Court challenging the legal workaround Brussels used to channel profits from frozen Russian assets through the EPF without Hungary's consent. Magyar has not said whether he will withdraw it. No journalist has pressed him on the point. If the court sides with Budapest, billions already disbursed could be thrown into legal uncertainty.