HUNGARIAN Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday his country will have plenty of opportunities in the future to interrupt Ukraine’s process of joining the European Union.

His comment comes a day after the right-wing leader allowed an EU summit to move forward bringing the war-torn country into the bloc — but also vetoed over €50 billion in aid for Ukraine.

President Orban had spent weeks declaring that Hungary would not consent to the EU beginning talks with Ukraine on eventual membership, arguing such a decision would be catastrophic and Kiev was unprepared to begin the process.

But in Brussels on Thursday, the Hungarian leader left the room where the subject was being debated by leaders of the EU's 27 member nations and allowed a unanimous vote of 26 to approve the start of accession talks.

In an interview with Hungarian state radio, Mr Orban said the decisive argument of the EU “was that Hungary loses nothing, given that the final word on Ukraine’s membership has to be given by the national parliaments, 27 parliaments, including the Hungarian one.

“I made it clear that we will not hesitate for a moment if the financial and economic consequences of this bad decision will be paid by the Hungarians. Those who made this decision should be the ones who pay.”

He added: “If necessary, we will slam the brakes.”

The decision to move forward on membership could lead to years of talks, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the agreement as “a victory for Ukraine. A victory for all of Europe.”

But the blocked €50 billion (£43 billion) package of aid will cause his government immediate funding problems.

This was a major blow to President Zelensky after US lawmakers also blocked an additional $61 billion (£48 billion) in aid.