EU and Hungary clash over funding and foreign policy ahead of elections

The European Union and Hungary are in a tense standoff on multiple fronts. The EU Parliament is questioning a large defense loan to Hungary, calling it a potential 'election gift,' and has reportedly frozen some Hungarian funding files ahead of the country's elections in April.

Separately, Hungary is criticizing the EU's foreign policy, refusing to support a recent EU statement on Venezuela and granting asylum to a former minister from Poland, another EU member state. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has also stated that Hungary will not leave the EU, but predicted the bloc would 'fall apart on its own.'