EU plan envisages Ukraine's accession by 2027, up to $1.6 trillion in funding for Kyiv, Orban claims
Ukraine is expected to join the European Union by 2027 and may receive $1.6 trillion in funding by 2040, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed on Jan. 23.
He cited a confidential document on Ukraine's accession allegedly presented at an EU summit in Brussels on the previous day.
The European Commission told the Kyiv Independent it cannot comment on Orban’s claims, but confirmed it is “close to an agreement” with the U.S. and Ukraine on a “single unified prosperity framework.” Ukraine's Foreign Ministry declined to comment.
Hungary has opposed Ukraine’s EU accession and providing aid to Kyiv, with Orban claiming that financing Kyiv “will destroy the European Union.” Furthermore, Orban maintains close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Without specifying the timeline, Orban said on Facebook that Ukraine was expected to get $800 billion in funding. The Hungarian news sites Telex and Portfilio reported the $800 billion amount is expected to be provided within 10 years and will allegedly include U.S. funds and private capital in addition to EU money.
The U.S. and EU are hoping to attract $800 billion of public and private funds within 10 years to help rebuild Ukraine once Russia ends its full-scale invasion, Politico reported on Jan. 23, citing a document that it has obtained.
Taras Kachka, Ukraine's deputy prime minister for European integration, also said on Jan. 20 that Ukraine was expected to get $800 million as part of a "prosperity package" that is being negotiated by Ukraine, the U.S., and the EU. The prosperity plan for Ukraine's recovery is part of a 20-point peace blueprint that the U.S. is trying to broker.
Orban also said, as cited by Telex, that Ukraine may receive an additional 700 billion euros ($823 billion), according to the EU plan — an apparent reference to military aid. He said on Facebook that the additional money may be provided by 2040.
Kachka said on Jan. 21 that maintaining the Ukrainian army over the next 10 years could cost up to $700 billion if Russia’s aggression continued.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also said in February 2025 that EU spending on military equipment for Ukraine could amount to 700 billion euros, Die Berliner Zeitung reported.
The same confidential document allegedly states that Ukraine should join the EU by 2027.
The latest draft of the peace proposal under negotiation envisaged Ukraine joining the EU by Jan. 1, 2027 under a fast-tracked process, the Financial Times reported in December, citing its sources.
Meanwhile Kachka said on Jan. 22 that Ukraine could become a member of the European Union in 2028 if it finishes key reforms by the end of 2027.
Orban argued that the proposal on Ukraine's accession and funding was “exactly as it came from Ukraine." He predicted that achieving the goals of this plan would inevitably require extensive borrowing, thereby placing a strain on Europe’s economic future.
Orban argues that support for Ukraine should be a voluntary choice for each country, rather than a collective undertaking by the European Union as a whole.
Orban also responded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Zelensky called on European allies to step up their support, both militarily and financially.
“While President Zelensky sits on a horse, the people of Brussels are ready to pay, like military officers," he wrote on Facebook.
Orban also stated that “in the next 100 years there will not be a parliament in Hungary that would vote for the Ukrainians’ accession to the European Union.”
Ukraine applied to join the EU in February 2022, mere days after Russia unleashed its full-scale invasion.
Kyiv was granted candidate status in 2022, and the EU formally opened accession talks with Ukraine in 2024. However, de facto negotiations on specific accession clusters have not yet begun, and Hungary has blocked the process.
The EC has called Ukraine’s implementation of necessary reforms “impressive, even during wartime” and finalized the screening process in September 2025.
