EU leaders to press Hungary’s Orban to lift block on Ukraine loan

BRUSSELS, March 19 (Reuters) – European Union leaders are expected to put heavy pressure on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday to lift his blockade on a vital 90-billion-euro ($103 billion) EU loan to Ukraine to keep up its fight against Russia’s invasion.

EU leaders agreed to the loan in December but Orban – who has maintained cordial ties to Russia and repeatedly clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy – blocked its implementation last month, citing a dispute over a war-damaged pipeline.

The Druzhba pipeline carried Russian oil through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia but was damaged by a Russian attack in January, officials say. Ukraine says it will take some time to repair but Hungary insists it is ready to operate already.

At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, other leaders of the 27-nation bloc are expected to point to an agreement by Zelenskiy this week to fix the pipeline with EU technical help and funding, and press Orban to drop his opposition to the loan, diplomats say.

RISKS FOR KYIV AND EU LEADERS’ CREDIBILITY

Orban’s stance has sparked anger among other EU leaders as Kyiv is expected to run short of money within weeks if it does not receive fresh funding, and his U-turn has called into question the credibility of the European Council, the EU’s highest-decision making body.

Orban, a nationalist ally of U.S. President Donald Trump in the midst of a tough re-election campaign, has often been a thorn in the side of mainstream EU politicians but not previously gone back on a deal agreed among EU leaders, diplomats say.

“In December, we took a political decision – a political decision at the level of the European Council. Now is the time to deliver,” Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday.

“I don’t want to think of a scenario where the European Union decides something at the level of the European Council, at the level of 27 leaders, and this political decision is not implemented,” he told an event in Brussels hosted by the European Policy Centre think tank.

Many EU officials are particularly exasperated by Orban’s blockade as he secured an opt-out from paying for the costs of the loan, along with the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Orban, however, has so far shown no sign of backing down. “No oil deliveries? No money. It’s that simple,” he posted on X on Tuesday.

($1 = 0.8726 euros)

(Reporting by Andrew Gray; Editing by Stephen Coates)