EU backs EUR90b loan for Ukraine after Hungary lifts veto
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The news: The European Union has given preliminary approval to unblock a EUR90 billion ($148 billion) loan for Ukraine, with Hungary given 24 hours to sign off of the deal. Formal approval of the loan as well as a new package of sanctions against Russia are expected to be finalised on Thursday.
The context: The EU agreed on the loan in December to keep Ukraine afloat during 2026-27. However, Hungarian leader and pro-Russian Viktor Orbán, who was defeated at the polls earlier this month, has vetoed the EU funding for months, arguing that he would not lift the veto until Ukraine repaired the pipeline which had been damaged by a Russian strike.
Orbán accused Ukraine of delaying repairs to the Druzhba pipeline which transports oil from Russia to Hungary and Slovakia, holding the loan for Ukraine hostage until repair of the infrastructure was complete.
On Wednesday, Hungary’s MOL oil firm said it had been told by Druzhba’s Ukrainian operator that crude oil was arriving via the pipeline from Belarus and was “expected in Hungary and Slovakia by tomorrow [Thursday] at the latest”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that unblocking of the loans, which aims to cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s financing needs this year and next, is the right signal under the current circumstances.
He added via X that Ukraine is fulfilling its obligations with regard to the EU, and expects that “the European side will also deliver what is needed for the real protection of lives and for advancing Ukraine’s full European integration. It is important that the European support package becomes operational swiftly.”
The sources: The Guardian, Volodymyr Zelensky X, ABC
