Without funding from the United States and the European Union, Ukraine risks going bankrupt by March 2024, so Hungary’s veto on budget assistance to Kiev could have devastating consequences. This was announced on Friday, December 15, by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

«In the treasury of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky has less than three months of funds left. The situation is really on the verge of maximum danger,» the message says.

According to forecasts of the European Union, as well as Kiev itself, in the absence of support, March 1 will become the «day of collapse» of the Ukrainian state, the newspaper reports. Therefore, an extraordinary meeting of the European Council is likely to be held in January on the issue of financing Ukraine.

Earlier in the day, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that allocating money to Kiev from the EU budget does not meet the interests of Budapest, since in this case it will be necessary to give part of the funds owed to Hungary.

The EU summit is taking place in Brussels on December 14-15. At it, European leaders decided to approve the start of negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on their accession to the union. During the discussion of Ukraine’s membership in the EU, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz invited Orban to leave the hall and drink coffee, which allowed him to make a unanimous decision on the Ukrainian issue, Politico reported.

At the same time, the Hungarian Prime minister himself said that Budapest has many opportunities to prevent Ukraine from joining the EU. According to him, 27 parliaments, including the Hungarian parliament, should have the final say on this issue.

On December 15, it also became known that Hungary had used the right of veto, rejecting the financial assistance program to Ukraine. The plan to support Kiev included the provision of €50 billion from the EU budget until 2027. 26 EU member states voted for the allocation of this amount.