“The loan remains blocked because one leader does not keep his word. But let me repeat what I already said in Kyiv. We will fulfill it one way or another,” said von der Leyen, according to the newspaper Yevropejskaja pravda. At the same time, she meant Orbán by the “one leader”, the letter noted.
Von der Leyen added that the EU fulfilled the wishes of the three countries that they would not participate in the loan. These are Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. “There was one condition. (…) This condition was fulfilled,” said the chairwoman of the EC.
The Hungarian Prime Minister is blocking the approval of the loan, saying that he is ready to support Ukraine only when the import of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia is resumed.
According to the Ukrainians, the pipeline was damaged by Russian attacks and will probably be put into operation in a month and a half at the earliest, but Kyiv did not agree to inspect the damaged site for a long time. Orbán accuses the Ukrainian party of trying to provoke a political crisis in his country before the April elections, where he is at risk of ending up as the head of the government.
The other heads of state and government of the European Union countries failed to convince Orbán on Thursday to stop blocking the loan. During the summit, Costa already described Orbán’s behavior as unacceptable, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky explained via video link that the loan is crucial for Ukraine and can help save lives.
According to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the Hungarian Prime Minister is “violating one of the basic principles of our cooperation”. “This is a serious breach of loyalty between member states, it undermines the ability of the European Union to act and it damages the reputation of the EU as a whole,” Merz told journalists after the summit.
“The discussion was tough and harsh, but Viktor still did not back down,” said a Reuters source familiar with the proceedings in the meeting room. Another then added that “everyone is getting more and more upset with Orbán”.
