Despite the opposition of Hungary, the European Union will find ways to deliver the promised 90 billion euro ($104.2 billion) loan to Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said early on March 20.
“We will deliver one way or the other,” von der Leyen told reporters after a Brussels summit where EU leaders failed to convince Russia-friendly Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to lift his veto on the crucial EU loan to Kyiv.
EU Council President Antonio Costa condemned the “unacceptable” resistance by the far-right Hungarian nationalist leader after a previous unanimous vote.
“A deal is a deal, we need to honor our word. And no one can blackmail the European Council,” Costa said.
‘A Serious Violation’
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the European Commission had been asked by leaders to find ways to pay out the loan and called Orban’s veto an unprecedented “act of serious disloyalty.”
“This will leave its mark,” Merz said. “This is a serious violation of the principle of loyalty of the member states amongst each other, and it damages the standing of the European Union.”
French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned Hungary’s actions.
The unanimous agreement on the loan “must be respected and implemented without delay, in accordance with the principle of loyal cooperation,” Macron said.
A joint statement by 25 of the EU’s 27 members said that the bloc’s leaders “look forward to the first disbursement to Ukraine by the beginning of April” as planned.
Alternative Methods
Should Orban not relent, expert say European countries individually could theoretically provide the necessary guarantees instead of using the joint EU budget to secure the loan — which requires unanimous approval.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, also with friendly relations with Moscow, also refrained from supporting the statement.
Orban said his government will maintain its veto on the loan, and on the EU’s 20th sanction package against Moscow, until Russian oil deliveries through Ukraine resume through the contested Druzhba pipeline.
“I will never support any kind of decision here which is in favor of Ukraine,” Orban said. “The Hungarian position is very simple. We are ready to support Ukraine when we get our oil, which is blocked by them.”
Russian oil flowed through the Druzhba pipeline via Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia until it was damaged by a Russian strike in January, according to Ukraine.
The stoppage of fuel deliveries further raised tensions between Budapest and Kyiv, which has said necessary repairs would take another six weeks.
