Hungary is protesting against what it described as an “illegal” move planned by EU governments to freeze Russian assets indefinitely through enhanced majority voting, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on his Facebook page.

“Brussels will go through the Rubicon today with the start of the written vote process, which will cause irreparable damage to the EU. Hungary protests against the decision and will do everything it can to restore a legal situation.”

An agreement to freeze Russian assets indefinitely would remove the risks to the plan to use them to finance Ukraine, as Moscow-friendly Hungary and Slovakia would no longer have the ability to veto an extension of the freeze every six months, as is currently the case.