Hungarian strongman leader Viktor Orban is said to be a fan of Charles De Gaulle. But unlike the Frenchman’s 1960s European boycott that paralyzed policymaking, Orban’s stage-managed exit from this week’s EU leaders’ summit was a boost rather than a crisis for unity with Ukraine. The risk, though, is of bigger fights to come.

Hungary has blocked €50bn ($55bn; £43bn) in EU aid for Ukraine - just hours after an agreement was reached on starting membership talks.

"Summary of the nightshift: veto for the extra money to Ukraine," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after Thursday's talks in Brussels.

EU leaders said the aid negotiations would resume early next year.

Ukraine is critically dependent on EU and US funding as it continues to fight occupying Russian forces.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Congress Tuesday that if lawmakers fail to pass more aid to Ukraine that it "very likely" will lead to U.S. troops on the ground in Europe defending NATO allies in other countries Russia may target next.

"If [Vladimir] Putin takes over Ukraine, he'll get Moldova, Georgia, then maybe the Baltics," House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul told The Messenger after senior Biden administration military and intelligence officials briefed House lawmakers on the need for Congress to approve more aid to war-torn Ukraine.

Rolling street demonstrations are threatening to destabilize another fragile post-Soviet state. But in this case, it’s not pro-Western protesters pushing back against what they see as an authoritarian drift by their government, but pro-Russian demonstrators complaining about deteriorating living standards – and, also, creeping authoritarianism.

Several European foreign ministers called Monday for the EU to sanction oligarchs involved in “destabilization attempts” in Moldova and Georgia, amid rising fears of Russian interference.

“These two countries are facing destabilization attempts which require our greatest vigilance, and might justify that we start considering to target those responsible for these attempts,” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said ahead of an EU foreign ministers’ meeting.

Tensions are mounting in Moldova, a small country on Ukraine’s southwestern border, where Russia has been accused of laying the groundwork for a coup that could drag the nation into the Kremlin’s war.

Moldova’s President, Maia Sandu, has accused Russia of using “saboteurs” disguised as civilians to stoke unrest amid a period of political instability, echoing similar warnings from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is prompting soul-searching in neighboring Moldova about whether the country needs to shift away from its constitutionally-enshrined neutrality and lock itself into a “larger alliance.”

When asked about potential NATO accession, Moldova’s President Maia Sandu said in an interview with POLITICO the country was still weighing its next step, and whether it would require a constitutional change to do so.

It seemed to be quite a snub. On June 23rd the European Union declined to grant Georgia candidate status, an important step towards full membership. Two other ex-Soviet countries, Ukraine and Moldova, did become candidates. The three had developed their relations with the bloc at a similar pace. In 2014 they all signed association agreements with the EU to encourage political collaboration and economic integration. More than 80% of Georgians want EU membership and last month’s setback sparked anti-government protests in Tbilisi, the capital.