Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has criticised calls by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to provide additional financial assistance to Ukraine, comparing the proposal to "trying to cure an alcoholic by giving him a crate of vodka", pro-government website Mandiner.hu writes.

Orban wrote in his latest social media posts that Brussels has asked member states to provide an additional €135bn to Kyiv, which equals 65% of the country’s GDP, seven years of pension payments and three-quarters of the EU’s annual budget.

"This is astonishing. At a time when it has become clear that the military mafia is siphoning off money from European taxpayers, the president of the European Commission is proposing to send even more funds there instead of demanding real oversight or suspending payments," he wrote.

This resembles an attempt to help an alcoholic by sending him another case of vodka, he added.

"The sum is astronomical and does not exist today," he continued in the post, adding that Brussels’ proposed solution would once again involve issuing common European debt, which would leave "even our grandchildren" paying the price of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The government said that Hungary is being asked to contribute despite what it described as "daily financial penalties" imposed by EU institutions, referring to a €1mn fine paid by Budapest.

The government has defied a 2024 ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to implement the EU’s asylum procedures. The EU’s top court ordered Hungary to pay a lump sum of €200mn and a penalty of €1mn per day, which continue to increase as long as the government fails to comply with the court’s decision.

The article appeared on Mandiner.hu after on November 10, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) announced that corruption schemes had been uncovered at Ukrainian energy company Energoatom.

The schemes were allegedly organised by businessman Timur Mindich, a long-time associate of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Investigators believe that participants in the scheme demanded kickbacks of 10-15% of contract amounts from contractors. Media reports said the total losses reached $100mn.