European Council president reveals that EU leaders find Orbán's blocking of €90bn for Ukraine "unacceptable"
During the European Council meeting in Brussels on 19 March, EU leaders condemned Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for blocking the provision of a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine for 2026-2027.
According to a European Pravda journalist in Brussels, European Council President António Costa said at the final press conference that EU leaders took the floor during the summit on 19 March to criticise Orbán's conduct.
"Today, of course, we don't, we didn't discuss what we have already discussed last December, but the leaders take the floor to clearly condemn the attitude from Viktor Orbán to remember that once a deal is a deal and all the leaders need to honour their word," Costa said.
Costa noted that "nobody can blackmail the European Council, nobody can blackmail the European Union institutions".
Therefore, he said the EU must honour its commitment and provide Ukraine with the promised loan funds.
"And that's why it's completely unacceptable what Hungary is doing and this behaviour cannot be accepted by the leaders. And that's why the leaders were very clear today in the Council, condemning clearly the behaviour of Hungary in this matter," he summed up.
European Pravda reported earlier that EU leaders had held a discussion on 19 March about granting Ukraine a €90 billion EU loan, but they failed to persuade Orbán to lift his veto. Separate criticism was also levelled at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over what were described as inappropriate remarks about Orbán.
On the sidelines of the European Council meeting in Brussels, Orbán said Hungary will not lift its veto on decisions favourable to Ukraine until the Druzhba pipeline resumes transporting Russian oil.
Following the discussion on Ukraine, the European Council adopted conclusions on Ukraine signed by 25 EU leaders – without Hungary and Slovakia.
At a press conference after the summit in the early hours of 20 March, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reiterated that Ukraine will receive the €90 billion from the EU one way or another.
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