Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (L) with European Commission President Charles Michel, Brussels, Belgium, December 13, 2023 (European Union)

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Wednesday’s Coverage: Zelenskiy-Biden “Freedom is Strong”…But US Republicans Maintain Blackmail Over Aid

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1806 GMT:

The European Union has agreed to open negotiations for the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the 27-nation bloc.

The EU also granted candidate status to Georgia.

European Council President Charles Michel announced on Twitter:

For weeks — and even earlier today, as the EU summit opened in Brussels — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had objected to the start of the talks.

But when the vote was taken, he was not even in the room to cast a veto.

An EU spokeswoman said, “There was a decision taken on enlargement that was not blocked by anyone.”

Orbán later posed, “Hungary is not modifying its position,” saying that the other EU members could proceed with the “bad decision” as Budapest stays away.

His ill temper could not overshadow the celebration by Ukrainian and EU officials. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted, “This is a victory for Ukraine. A victory for all of Europe. A victory that motivates, inspires, and strengthens.”

European Council head Ursula von der Leyen added:

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas cheered:

And while Ukraine’s case has grabbed most of the attention, the President of Moldova — which has endured Russian occupation of its Transnistria region since 1992 and Moscow’s recent attempts to overthrow the Government — noted the significance for her nation.

UPDATE 1508 GMT:

A Moscow court has ordered a retrial for human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov, 70, imprisoned on charges of discrediting the Russian military.

Orlov is one of the leaders of Memorial, the human rights organization which was banned in Russia in 2021 and won the Nobel Peace Prize a year later.

In October, a district court fined Orlov 150,000 roubles ($1,687) over his article saying that Vladimir Putin’s Russia had descended into fascism.

When Orlov appealed the verdict, prosecutors sought a 3-year jail sentence for “political hatred of Russia”.

The retrial was ordered on a legal technicality after prosecutors shifted their argument against Orlov.

UPDATE 1421 GMT:

Vladimir Putin has issued an uncharacteristic “I’m Sorry” when questioned in his press conference about the soaring price of eggs in Russia.

Since January, the cost of chicken eggs has risen by 46.2%. In November alone, the rise was 15.1%, and this month the price is increasing by more than 4% each week.

Responding to a pensioner, Putin blamed others in the government for failing to increase imports in time.

I just recently spoke with the Minister of Agriculture and asked how things were going with his eggs. They say everything is fine with them. To which I answered him: “Our citizens have problems. The increase for chicken eggs is 40%, and in some places even more for chicken meat”….

I regret and apologize in this regard. A failure in the work of the government.

UPDATE 1243 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged the European Union summit to confirm the opening of negotiations for Kyiv’s accession.

Zelenskiy said via video link, “I ask you one thing today do not betray the people and their faith in Europe.”

Without referring to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s blockade of the accession talks, Zelenskiy said:

Today is a special day. And this day will go down in our history. Whether it’s good or bad for us, history will capture everything. Every word, every step, every action and inaction. Who fought for what.

It’s very important that Europe doesn’t fall back into indecision today. Nobody wants Europe to be seen as untrustworthy. Or as unable to take decisions it prepared itself.

People in Europe won’t understand if Putin’s satisfied smile becomes the reward for a meeting in Brussels.

The President continued, “Ten years ago, in Ukraine, people rose up under the flags of the European Union. It was a symbol of truth for them, and it should remain so. I ask you one thing today: do not betray the people and their faith in Europe.”

UPDATE 1110 GMT:

As Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán blockades European Union aid to Ukraine and talks over Kyiv’s accession to the bloc, Vladimir Putin has praised Orbán and Slovakia’s new Prime Minister Robert Fico.

“They’re not pro Russian politicians,” Putin declared. “They’re pro-nationalist.”

UPDATE 1055 GMT:

At his press conference, Vladimir Putin has said about 244,000 Russian troops are fighting in Ukraine.

US intelligence assesses that Russia has suffered 315,000 casualties in its 21-1/2 month invasion of Ukraine — 87% of the 360,000 active-duty ground troops it had in February 2022.

Putin declared that he doesn’t need a second wave of mobilization, following the troubled mass call-up of September 2022.

He said 1,500 men are recruited into the army every day across the country, and 486,000 soldiers have signed a contract with the Russian military.

UPDATE 1041 GMT:

A Moscow court has ordered the continued detention of Wall Street Journal reporter and US citizen Evan Gershkovich until January 30.

Gershkovich was seized by security forces on March 29 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg as he was working on a story about the reaction of locals to the invasion of Ukraine and the activities of Wagner Group mercenaries. He has been charged with espionage and faces up to 20 years in prison.

UPDATE 1036 GMT:

At the European Union summit in Brussels, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has blustered about his blockade of talks on Ukraine’s accession to the bloc.

Distorting the European Commission’s recommmendation earlier this month that negotiations should begin, he said, “There is no reason to discuss anything because preconditions were not met. We’re not going to move away from this.”

UPDATE 1028 GMT:

Opening his press conference in Moscow, Vladimir Putin has vowed to continue his failed 21 1/2-month invasion of Ukraine.

Having tried to crush Ukrainian sovereignty, Putin said without any hint of irony, “The very existence of our country without sovereignty is impossible….The whole country cannot exist without sovereignty.”

He then addressed the planted question, “When will there be peace?”

There will be peace when we achieve our goals. They haven’t changed. Denazification of Ukraine, the demilitarization of Ukraine.

UPDATE 0959 GMT:

Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas says Hungarian counterpart Victor Orbán is maintaining his blockade of talks on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.

“I just had a talk with Viktor Orbán. He said he does not see an agreement right now,” Kallas told reporters upon arrival at the EU summit in Brussels.

She said Ukraine has fulfilled the criteria to open accession talks which would take several years.

UPDATE 0800 GMT:

The Russian Defense Ministry claims nine Ukrainian drones were downed overnight over the Kaluga and Moscow regions.

A Russian outlet said the likely targets were military units in Alabino and Podolsk near Moscow, and the Volodarsk oil depot in the Ramensky district.

RBC-Ukraine, citing sources in the Ukrainian intelligence service, said the attacks were a special operation of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry.

The outlet echoed the Russian report that the targets were military facilities in the two regions.

“After the latest strikes that the Russians carried out on Ukraine, this was a good reminder for them that they will not have good nights either,” said a Ukrainian military intelligence official.

UPDATE 0740 GMT:

Ukraine’s air defenses downed 41 of 42 Iran-made attack drones fired by Russia overnight.

The drones were launched from two sites in occupied Crimea and from the Krasnodar region in southwest Russia. Most were aimed at the Odesa region in southern Ukraine.

Eleven people were injured in Odesa city, including three children who were hospitalized.

The Russians also launched six S-300 anti-aircraft missiles towards the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions in southern Ukraine.

One person was killed and one wounded in Kherson on Wednesday amid 113 Russian shellings of the region.

Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said 536 shells were fired from mortars, artillery, Grads, tanks, drones, and aircraft.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Hoping to lift Hungary’s blockade of a €50 billion fund for Ukraine and of the opening of accession talks with Kyiv, the European Union has agreed to release up to €10.2 billion in EU support money to Hungary’s Orbán Government.

The money is about a third of the total amount suspended, over a series of concerns about Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s violations of rights and the rule of law.

Formally, the European Commission said Hungary has fulfilled a set of judiciary reforms required by the EU.

After a thorough assessment, and several exchanges with the Hungarian Government, the Commission considers that Hungary has taken the measures it committed to take in order for the Commission to consider that the horizontal enabling condition on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is fulfilled in what concerns judicial independence.

But the timing of the step points to a political trade-off. The EU summit on Thursday-Friday is seeking a revision of its budget, through 2027, which adds €33 billion in loans and €17 billion in grants for Kyiv. The fund ensures that Ukraine has certainty of financing to maintain State operations.

The 27-member bloc is also hoping to confirm the opening of talks for Ukraine’s accession, following the European Commission’s report earlier this month that Kyiv has made progress towards the conditions for membership.

Both decisions require unanimous support. Orbán, a long-time ally of Vladimir Putin, has maintained that he will veto the funding for Ukraine. He repeated on Wednesday that the EU must consider only a “strategic relationship” with Kyiv.

“Orbán’s Blackmailing Has Succeeded”

Hungarian civil society activists criticized the release of the support money to Budapest, saying the Government has not fully met the criteria for judicial independence.

They were joined by a coalition of four political groups in the European Parliament, including the centre-right European People’s Party and the Socialists and Democrats bloc, who expressed concern in a letter to Commission head Ursula von der Leyen.

Iratxe García Pérez, the head of the Socialists and Democrats group, posted:

The Commission maintained that it “will closely and continuously monitor” Hungary’s judicial measures: “If, at any point in time, the Commission considers that this horizontal enabling condition is no longer fulfilled, it may again decide to block funding.”

But Finnish MEP Petri Sarvamaa, the European People’s Party spokesperson for budget issues, derided the “catastrophical decision”.

How can the commission evaluate something that is yet to exist?

As the members to the national judicial council have not even been named, there is no way of knowing its impact on the rule of law situation in Hungary.

It really seems like Orbán’s blackmailing has succeeded.

At a Nordic summit in Oslo, Norway on Wednesday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was aware of Hungary’s obstruction, “We have done absolutely everything…to prevent one or another state blocking the beginning of this negotiation.”

He emphasized that if the EU summit did not conclude in further support of Ukraine, it would show “that Putin has vetoed this decision”.

Last night, without mentioning Budapest, Zelenskiy: