European leaders gathered in Brussels, Belgium, for a tense EU Summit on Thursday, 19 March. The latest, 19th sanctions package was adopted by the Union in October 2025, and the majority of Member States are eager to issue a 20th instalment as well.
Thus far, Hungary and Slovakia are the only two countries on record to show their intention to block the new package. However, an increasing number of EU statesmen have expressed willingness to strike a deal with Russia and regain access to their cheap energy exports. Prime Minister Bart De Wever of Belgium and President Alexander Stubb of Finland have made statements of that sentiment recently.
Budapest and Bratislava demand the restart of the Druzhba pipeline, which transports crude oil from Russia to Europe through Ukraine and has been inoperational since late January, as the condition to lift their vetoes not only on the sanctions against the Russian economy, but also the first tranche of the €90 billion loan to Ukraine by the EU. The new wave of funding is desperately needed for the war-torn Eastern European nation.
EU leaders held a 90-minute video call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, the Kyiv Post reports, during which Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary brought up the calls to restart the pipeline again. Still, according to the Kyiv Post, he was reprimanded by President of the European Council António Costa, calling his behaviour ‘unacceptable’, who also delivered a bit of scolding to President Zelenskyy, telling him that some of his statements were ‘inappropriate in tone’.
Eventually, no agreement was reached on the loan to Ukraine at the meeting, multiple outlets have reported. Hungary stood firm on its veto.
The Euobserver also covered the story on Hungary’s objections, speculating that it is unlikely to budge given the proximity in time to the parliamentary election in the country, held on 12 April. PM Orbán has made his opposition to Ukraine joining the EU one of his main campaign messages, highlighting the economic strain it would create for the bloc. Painting Ukraine as an antagonist to Hungary by highlighting its refusal to restart the Druzhba pipeline, then taking a firm stance against Kyiv at the EU Summit, falls right in line with his core campaign narrative.
‘No agreement was able to be made on the loan to Ukraine at the EU Summit’
The site also reports that Hungary has allegedly committed to supporting Ukraine’s war loan at the EU Summit in December 2025, and PM Orbán’s fellow EU leaders are trying to appeal to that commitment.
News reports did state that Hungary agreed not to block the loan if it is excluded, alongside Slovakia and Czechia. However, PM Orbán has never confirmed that pledge himself. Instead, he made such public statements as ‘we should not be financing war, but peace’ and ‘Hungary cannot support a joint debt that creates financial obligations for us’ after the December 2025 meeting.
Ahead of today’s summit in Brussels, the Hungarian Prime Minister has declared: ‘We are ready to support Ukraine when we get our oil, which is being blocked by them. Until then, there is no decision that is favourable for Ukraine,’ as quoted by Euronews.com.
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