"Selensky regime"

EU aid for Ukraine: Kickl rants in all directions

After the EU summit: FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl criticizes the billions in aid for the "Selensky regime".

(Bild: stock.adobe.com APA, Krone KREATIV,)

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl has once again reiterated his rejection of the billions in EU aid for Ukraine, even describing it as a "Selensky regime". According to Kickl, the agreement reached at the EU summit would primarily mean that citizens of EU net contributors such as Austria would be asked to pay. "A liberal Chancellor would therefore have clearly vetoed this in the interests of his own people," said the liberal frontman. 

With regard to the four-year aid program amounting to 50 billion euros, Kickl spoke of "endless billions for the Selenskyj regime".

Kickl criticizes Nehammer
The current polling emperor also directed his criticism at Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP). With his approval of aid for Ukraine, he had "once again betrayed and sold out the Austrians and their hard-earned tax money at the EU altar in Brussels", said the FPÖ leader. Ukraine was a "bottomless pit".

One of the first things a liberal People's Chancellor would do would therefore be to stop Austria's payments.

FPÖ-Chef Herbert Kickl

"A liberal People's Chancellor would therefore ensure that one of his first acts would be to stop Austria's payments," said Kickl. It remained unclear whether he was speaking about himself in the third person or whether he wanted to leave open the possibility that someone else would become "liberal People's Chancellor" instead of him.

The agreement at the summit came about surprisingly quickly because the Hungarian head of government Viktor Orbán had withdrawn his originally announced veto. At an EU summit in December, all 26 other EU states had already been in favor of the payments, which the EU accession candidate country urgently needs in order to continue resisting Russian aggression.

Orban: Veto would have jeopardized EU funds for Hungary
Orbán has now justified giving up his veto. If Hungary had continued to block the aid, the 26 other EU member states would have agreed to transfer the EU money earmarked for Hungary to Ukraine, said the prime minister.

Viktor Orbán

(Bild: APA/AFP/Ludovic MARIN)

Russia not only threatens Ukraine, but also EU member states such as Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland. The Austrian Armed Forces expect Russia to engage in hybrid warfare against the EU as early as this year(by way of explanation: in hybrid warfare, soldiers do not necessarily carry a weapon or wear a uniform).

Chancellor pleased with summit agreement
Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer expressed his delight at the summit agreement on Friday afternoon. The aid for Ukraine is part of a larger increase in the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) until 2027, which was negotiated by Nehammer's predecessor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP).

(Bild: APA/AFP/Ludovic MARIN)

Nehammer had previously advocated covering the additional funding requirements through reallocations. He has now said that the increase is lower than originally planned by the EU Commission and that more money has now also been earmarked for the area of migration.