EU leaders to pressure Orban to lift his veto on EUR 90B loan for Ukraine – Reuters

Leaders of the European Union will exert strong pressure on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday to lift the blockade on a vital EUR 90 billion loan for Ukraine to continue the country's fight against Russia.

According to Ukrinform, Reuters reported this in an article.

EU leaders agreed on the loan for Ukraine back in December last year, but Orban, who maintains friendly ties with Russia and has repeatedly clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, blocked its implementation last month, citing a dispute over the war-damaged Druzhba pipeline.

This oil pipeline transported Russian oil through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia, but it was damaged as a result of a Russian attack in January.

The Ukrainian side stated that repairs to Druzhba would take some time, but Hungary insists that the pipeline is already ready for operation.

According to diplomats, at the EU leaders' summit in Brussels on Thursday, other leaders of the 27-member bloc are expected to point to this week's agreement with Zelensky on repairing the pipeline with technical assistance and EU funding, and will also pressure Orban to abandon his veto on the loan for Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, the European Union has offered Ukraine assistance and funding to speed up repair work on the Druzhba pipeline amid Hungary's uncompromising stance, as it continues to block both the EU loan for Ukraine and the 20th package of sanctions against Russia, linking both issues to the restoration of oil transit through Ukrainian territory.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa, confirmed that Ukraine remains a reliable energy partner for the EU and rejected accusations of deliberately obstructing the restoration of oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline.

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