Hungary lifts two-year veto on Ukraine arms reimbursements
According to an official who attended the meeting, Hungary's ambassador to the Political and Security Committee — the EU Council body responsible for the common foreign and security policy — announced the policy shift on Monday. Five other Brussels-based diplomats confirmed the information to Politico.
The European Peace Facility is an off-budget EU instrument that reimburses member states for roughly 40% of the value of weapons supplied to Ukraine from their national stockpiles. Because EU foreign policy decisions require unanimous approval, Hungary had been able to block the fund for a long time.
According to the report, Hungary's opposition created a reimbursement backlog of more than 40 billion euros within the fund. The situation frustrated major donor countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, and forced Brussels to look for alternative ways to ensure a steady flow of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine.
Politico notes that Hungary's decision to unblock the EPF will immediately make 6.6 billion euros available for reimbursements and could later unlock access to the remaining funds.
EU member states must now agree on new rules for how the money will be used. One key question is whether the reimbursements will be returned directly to national budgets or immediately redirected to additional military purchases for Ukraine.
Other issues still under discussion include whether the 40% reimbursement rate will remain in place and how the fund will be refinanced in the future. These topics are expected to be discussed next week at an informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Cyprus.
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4 of June 2026
