Hungary has blocked the EU statement on the second anniversary of the war

Hungary’s veto, the reasons for which were not immediately clear, led to the presidents of the European Commission, Council, and Parliament issuing their own statement on Friday. As a result, the joint statement by EU member states on the anniversary of the Ukraine-Russia war was thwarted, Bloomberg reports.

“Today marks the tragic anniversary of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which blatantly violates international law and the UN Charter,” the statement said.

A representative of the European Council declined to comment. One source stated that there were reservations from one of the EU members not in NATO (likely referring to Austria) regarding certain sections of the statement, but it was not specified if the country would block it. Separately, the EU has adopted new sanctions targeting hundreds of individuals and entities, marking the 13th package of measures jointly adopted since the confrontation began.