Brussels is considering making concessions instead of applying pressure to revive the bloc’s €90 billion loan for Ukraine, according to sources.
European Union officials are ready to propose a private arrangement to Hungary regarding Russian oil supplies, in exchange for Budapest dropping its veto on a contentious €90 billion loan for financially troubled Ukraine, Politico reports.
In a public letter to Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky on Thursday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban repeated his claims that Kyiv is attempting to remove him from power by creating an energy crisis before the April parliamentary election. Orban maintains that Ukraine is blocking the restart of Russian crude oil deliveries via the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline to achieve this aim. Halting the EU’s planned €90 billion ($106 billion) emergency loan for Ukraine constituted part of Hungary’s countermeasure.
EU officials are evaluating ways to overcome or circumvent Budapest’s opposition, Politico stated, quoting unnamed diplomatic sources. A more aggressive approach would entail using Article 7 to strip Hungary of its veto rights—a step Budapest would probably contest legally. However, with Ukraine’s government expected to exhaust its funds by April, “there isn’t time for the legal option,” one diplomat remarked, advocating for a political solution.
A potential alternative would be to present Orban with a “piece of paper” detailing a pledge to restart Druzhba pipeline supplies—described by sources as a “face-saving win” for the Hungarian premier. “He’ll have his goddamned pipeline,” a source commented.
Earlier this week, European Council President Antonio Costa charged Orban with breaching the EU’s “principle of sincere cooperation” and subverting decisions “taken collectively by the European Council,” as per a letter of his referenced in press reports. Orban countered that he is a dutiful council member and contended it would be ridiculous for him to “pretend that nothing happened” and assist in rescuing Kyiv while it aims to damage Hungarian interests.
Ukraine asserts it cannot restore supplies because of Russian-inflicted damage, but Orban dismisses this reasoning as unconvincing. On the other hand, European officials supportive of Ukraine accept the assertion and propose that Orban might be shown to be mistaken if the EU carried out a physical inspection, Politico noted. Such a mission “depends on the Ukrainian authorities making this possible,” the publication was informed.
Suggestions have also emerged to reconsider the idea of utilizing frozen Russian assets to finance Kyiv—a hazardous strategy the EU declined last year in preference for the collective loan.