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EU Leaders Accuse Orbán of Disloyalty and Blackmail After He Blocks €90 Billion Ukraine Loan
Orbán uses Hungary's veto on a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine as leverage over oil pipeline disputes, with Kyiv facing urgent funding needs by early May, EU leaders say.
- On Thursday, European Union leaders failed to break Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's veto on a €90 billion loan package for Ukraine, with officials accusing him of a "gross act of disloyalty" tantamount to blackmail.
- Orban is using the loan as leverage in a dispute over the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia. "No oil = no money," Orban posted on X after the talks, refusing to budge.
- In a video address to EU leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the loan "critical" and "a resource to protect lives," as Kyiv faces a budget shortfall four years into the war requiring funds by early May.
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called the veto "gross disloyalty," while European Council President Antonio Costa declared "no one can blackmail the European Council." Leaders asked the European Commission to examine possible workarounds to bypass Orban's blockade.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc would "deliver" funds to Ukraine "one way or the other," though officials warned Kyiv could run short of money within weeks without fresh assistance.
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15 Articles
15 Articles
The Twenty-seven had agreed in December on a crucial aid to Kiev, which must continue to finance its war effort, but the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, in the campaign for his re-election, refused to lift his blockage.
Viktor Orbán is once again blocking the European Union's aid to Ukraine – an unscrupulous manoeuvre in the Hungarian election campaign. The indignation in Brussels is quite rightly great, but the rest of the EU countries must finally draw conclusions.
Due to Viktor Orban's position, aid to Ukraine may not be unblocked until the elections in Hungary on April 12.
Coverage Details
Total News Sources15
Leaning Left5Leaning Right1Center3Last UpdatedBias Distribution56% Left
Bias Distribution
- 56% of the sources lean Left
56% Left
L 56%
C 33%
11%
Factuality
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