Viktor Orbán refuses to agree to €90bn loan for Ukraine as EU leaders accuse him of betrayal | European Union
EU leaders were outraged after Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán backed down from accusing his opposition to a vital €90bn (£78bn) loan to Ukraine of treason and acting in bad faith.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called Orbán’s U-turn on the loan Hungary agreed to in December “an act of great disloyalty” and added: “I firmly believe that this will leave deep scars.”
Speaking after the EU summit in Brussels, Merz said that EU leaders wanted the European Commission to find ways to pay the 90 billion euro loan despite Hungary’s objection.
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen did not elaborate on possible workarounds, telling reporters: “The loan is blocked because one of the leaders broke his promise. But let me repeat… we will deliver one way or another.”
In an unusual sign of public anger, leaders on Thursday made clear their anger at Orbán, who refused to sign the loan agreed last year over a dispute with Kiev over a damaged oil pipeline.
European Council President António Costa, who chaired the summit, told reporters that European leaders took the floor to condemn Orbán’s attitude, adding: “No one can blackmail European institutions.”
Arriving at the summit hours earlier, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said she was not optimistic about a solution ahead of Hungarian elections on April 12, where Orbán faces the most serious challenge to his 16-year rule.
Hungary had accepted the loan and was now “taking it” [its] “The agreement must be returned,” Kallas said, adding that Orbán did not act in good faith, which is the basic principle of the EU agreement: “The question for us is: How can we really push for the implementation of the agreement we made in December?” he said.
Orbán and his ally, Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico refused to sign the Council of Europe declaration “To look[ing] Progress towards funding Ukraine”. By the afternoon it was clear that Orbán was not going to back down. Two EU sources said they did not expect any change from Hungary at the summit. “Orbán did not act in the Ukraine session,” one said.
EU leaders agreed in December that 24 member states would receive a 90 billion euro loan for urgently needed military aid and government support to Ukraine. Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have approved the idea, with the important caveat that they do not have to contribute to the loan. This was a tough Plan B after the alternative option of using Russia’s frozen assets for financing failed to gain the necessary unanimity.
Orbán’s reneging on his deal infuriated EU leaders because it undermines EU decision-making at a time when Ukraine is running out of money. EU officials want the first tranches of cash to be given to Kiev from the beginning of April.
Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo said Orbán was using Ukraine “as a weapon” in his election campaign, adding: “I think he betrayed us and we need to find a solution on how to move forward.”
Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever, who blocked Russia’s option to freeze its assets, played a central role in orchestrating the loan deal, including negotiations with Orbán. He said: “It is unacceptable to make decisions with leaders and then say, ‘But I’m not ready to implement my decision.'”
European Council President António Costa told leaders in Orbán’s presence that Hungary’s behavior was “unacceptable,” according to an EU official. Costa also used the same word to describe the comments of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said “I will give this person’s address to our armed forces” when talking about Orbán. These remarks drew rare rebukes from EU officials.
Having reached the top, Orbán showed no signs of compromise. “We want to take the oil from the Ukrainians, which is ours and blocked by the Ukrainians. I will never support any decision here that would be in favor of Ukraine.” [as long as] “Hungarians cannot buy the oil that belongs to us.”
The dispute centers on the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian oil via Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia. Ukraine said the pipeline was damaged in a Russian airstrike, but Orbán accused Kiev of delaying repairs.
The Kremlin-friendly governments of Hungary and Slovakia are also blocking the EU’s 20th sanctions package against Russia, which was expected to be adopted on the fourth anniversary of last month’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The EU declaration, adopted by 25 member states on Thursday, calls for the “rapid adoption” of this package and to put more pressure on Russia.
Zelenskyy this week agreed to accept EU financial and technical support to repair the pipeline. However, the decision does not seem to affect Orbán, who is running an anti-Ukraine and anti-EU election campaign. He portrays his centre-right rival Péter Magyar as an agent of Brussels and Kiev who want to drag Hungary into the war in Ukraine.
Rob Jetten, attending his first EU summit as Dutch prime minister, said: “It’s clear that Ukraine needs our full support to win this war against Russian aggression. Decisions have been made here at the European level, so I expect everyone to respect that.”
Addressing the leaders via video link, Zelenskyy said he hoped the EU would keep its promise before the summit. “We really rely on countries and the EU to find ways to solve this problem,” he said on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s president told EU leaders this week that Ukraine was “making every possible effort to repair the damage and restart operations” on the pipeline.
Hungary and Slovakia are the only two EU countries to benefit from Druzhba, which provides temporary exemptions from the EU import ban on Russian oil after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The summit in Brussels was supposed to be dedicated to fine-tuning a long-term agenda that would revive Europe’s declining competitiveness against the United States and China. However, this situation was overshadowed by the conflict with Hungary and the war in the Middle East, which caused energy prices to rise and increased the tension on transatlantic relations.
