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Hungary’s last-minute veto on the €90 billion loan to Ukraine highlights the need for the European Union to move away from unanimity, Rob Jetten, the new prime minister of the Netherlands, said on his first trip to Brussels since taking office.
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“The new Dutch goverment is in favour of less and less decision-making by unanimity on the European level,” Jetten told a group of media, including Euronews, on Tuesday.
“This is a clear example of why that is important because we cannot explain to our constituents that Europe is sometimes way too level in reacting to great issues that affect us all,” he added.
Jetten called on his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orbán, to abide by the delicate deal that the 27 EU leaders reached in December after fraught negotiations. The compromise saw Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic promising the necessary unanimity to amend the EU budget rules in exchange for being exempted from the joint borrowing.
Officials and diplomats in Brussels believe that by vetoing a critical piece of the loan at the last stage of the legislative process, Orbán has breached the principle of sincere cooperation that binds the bloc’s decision-making.
“If you reach political agreement on the Council level, we expect every member state to uphold that agreement. And if not, it’s a big task for the European Commission take action,” Jetten said.
In the new coalition programme, the Netherlands calls for the “simplification” of the Article 7 procedure that can deprive member states of voting rights when they commit grave violations of the rule of law. Hungary has been under Article 7 for years, but there has never been sufficient political momentum to move to the harder enforcement phase.
“It is absolutely necessary that we support Ukraine in the months to come to make sure they can continue their fight against Russian aggression,” Jetten went on.
“With less and less American support for the Ukrainians in terms of money and weapons, it is up to the Europeans to deliver.”
Orbán’s veto centres on the interruption of Russian oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline, which Kyiv says was attacked by Russian drones on 27 January and has remained non-operational since then.
But Orbán says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has deliberately shut down the pipeline for “political reasons” to influence the results of the upcoming Hungarian elections. Orbán trails in opinion polls by double digits.
Caught between the two rival camps, the European Commission has asked Zelenskyy to repair Druzhba and Orbán to lift his veto. Meanwhile, Hungary and Slovakia have proposed a fact-finding mission to inspect the damaged section of the pipeline.
“We expect the European Commission to solve this issue,” Jetten said. “If it’s helpful to have any fact-finding missions on the pipeline to fix this issue, I’m open to it. But everything begins with: a political agreement at the Council level is a political agreement.”
‘Too early’ for a date on Ukraine’s accession
Among the first debates facing Jetten as premier is the future of enlargement, a topic on which the Netherlands has expressed well-known reservations in the past.
Zelenskyy is advocating for a specific date for Ukraine’s accession to be enshrined in a prospective peace deal, something that could offset the pain of territorial concessions. Last week, he openly suggested 2027 as an aspirational benchmark.
The Commission says it cannot commit to a clear-cut date but is working on legal avenues to revamp the notoriously complex process and ensure the Ukrainian people have greater certainty in their path to membership.
Asked about the potential reform, Jetten said enlargement should be reconsidered from a “geopolitical perspective” but urged the bloc to be “careful” with next steps, warning that the essence of the European project risks being undermined.
“We are very open-minded to look into broader support for these (candidate) countries, but moving too fast is not the way to move forward,” the premier said.
“I think, at the moment, it’s not possible to set a date for enlargement with Ukraine, but it is possible to talk with them, and I will do that with President Zelenskyy, (about) how Europeans can support Ukraine in the important reforms that they have undertaken. But at this moment, it is too early to set the date.”
Jetten also touched upon the US-Iranian strikes on Iran, which have pushed the Middle East into uncharted territory. Wholesale gas prices have soared in reaction to the war, prompting fears that Europe might soon face a prohibitive bill to refill its underground reserves, which are running low after the heating season.
“Obviously, the Iran war can have a big impact on strategic reserves, not only in Europe but also in Asia. So we have to prepare ourselves for any case that this war will continue for many more weeks and impact the strategic reserves in the Netherlands and abroad,” he said, noting extra measures would be taken “if necessary”.
“I think the broader concern is what this war and everything that’s going on in the Strait of Hormuz is going to affect in terms of pricing.”
‘The Netherlands is back’
Jetten’s D66 party has formed a minority goverment with the liberal VVD and the conservative CDA, all of which support European integration. His tenure puts an end to the fractious four-party coalition headed by the right-wing, Eurosceptic Party for Freedom (VVD) of Geert Wilders, which was marked by constant disagreements.
Among the priorities, his executive has pledged to ramp up defence spending, simplify regulation, promote new technologies and expand renewable energy.
“As a founding (member) and the fifth (largest) economy within the EU, the Netherlands is back at the table to work closely together with everyone here in Brussels and our allies within the EU,” Jetten said.
“We see a lot of opportunities to strengthen the European economy and competitiveness, and also to make sure that we do our job with a lot of tax-based money to invest in the European defence and the European defence industry.”
Jetten and the other 26 leaders are heading for a no-holds-barred fight on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the bloc’s seven-year budget. Brussels has proposed a €2-trillion template that some capitals consider politically unpalatable.
Where to cut spending will be a major fracture line. Germany, the Nordics and the Baltics want a greater focus on strategic priorities, while Spain, Italy and Eastern Europe want to preserve the prominence of agriculture and cohesion funds.
The Dutch premier made it clear that the next budget should focus on the big transitions shaping the continent’s future: defence, technology and climate.
“A modern MFF doesn’t mean an exploded MFF in terms of numbers,” he said.
“The Netherlands will look into the numbers very closely, and we will have a lot of debate on this topic in the months to come.”
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