The Hungarian veto holds strong. Billions for Kiev are in question

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, in a telephone conversation on Tuesday, focused mainly on the quick completion of the process of accepting a loan to support Ukraine, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the European Commission said von der Leyen and Zelensky were in regular contact.

In the afternoon conversation, both leaders focused on their common priority, which is the quick completion of the process of accepting a loan to support Ukraine and the 20th package of sanctions against Russia.

Both the EUR 90 billion EU loan for Ukraine for 2026 and 2027 and the new sanctions package against Russia, which were to be adopted on February 24, i.e. on the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have been blocked by Hungary. At the end of January, as a result of the Russian attack, the Druzhba oil pipeline was damaged, which resulted in the suspension of the transit of Russian crude oil to Hungary and Slovakia. Budapest stated that Kiev was deliberately blocking the transmission, and Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that he would not “support any decision favorable to Ukrainians.” On Tuesday, at a press briefing in Brussels, the spokeswoman admitted that the EC was still working on various options for releasing the loan.

In the conversation between von der Leyen and Zelenskiy, the issue of security of energy supplies was also raised, but not only in the context of the Druzhba failure. The leaders also discussed “the broader impact of events in the Middle East on energy prices, energy security and the availability of much-needed defense materials.”

From Brussels Jowita Kiwnik Pargana (PAP)

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