EU leaders are gathering in Brussels for a high-stakes summit dominated by war in the Middle East, energy pressures and a looming financial crunch in Ukraine – with a crucial loan package for Kyiv still blocked by Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Ukraine – and the EU’s stalled €90 billion loan – is set to dominate discussions on Thursday.
The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas warned it was "really, really time" to show support for Ukraine by unlocking the funding – which Hungary's prime minister signed up to in December along with the rest of the bloc.
The package is intended to help Kyiv plug a widening budget gap as it continues to fend off Russia’s invasion. But Orban has since reversed course, linking his support to the restoration of oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline, which leads from Russia through Eastern Europe and was damaged earlier this year.
"The Hungarian position is very simple. We are ready to support Ukraine when we get our oil, which is blocked by them," the prime minister said as he arrived at the talks, less than a month from a tightly contested national election in April.
Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo accused Orban of using Ukraine as a weapon in his election campaign. "It's not good. We had a deal," he said.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned the funds are essential. "There is simply no alternative to strengthening our army," he said.
Facing a budget shortfall four years into the war, Kyiv is estimated to need an influx of funds by early May, meaning a decision on the loan must come by mid-April at the latest.
Pipeline dispute shows Central Europe’s struggle to cut ties with Russian oil
Orban's tactics
EU officials have been scrambling to find a compromise. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has offered to finance repairs to the pipeline and develop alternative supply routes for Hungary and Slovakia, both heavily reliant on Russian oil. A technical team has also been dispatched to help restore transit.
Speaking ahead of Thursday's summit, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged leaders to push through both the loan and a fresh package of sanctions on Moscow. "The needs of the moment call for us to increase the pressure on Russia together," he said, adding that any one country's political considerations should not hold up collective action.
Orban has frequently used veto threats to extract concessions or delay decisions on Ukraine. Widely seen as Moscow’s closest partner within the bloc, he has long opposed military aid and sanctions against Russia.
With elections looming and polls suggesting a strong challenge from pro-European rival Peter Magyar, Orban has ramped up anti-EU and anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, casting himself as a defender of Hungarian interests against Brussels.
That leaves fellow leaders facing a balancing act – pressing him to honour commitments made in December without handing him a political win by appearing to gang up on him.
Druzhba pipeline: dependence, diplomacy and the end of Russian leverage in Europe
Middle East war
The summit comes amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, where the conflict around Iran has pushed up global energy prices and stoked fears in Europe of another refugee crisis.
While US President Donald Trump has urged allies to deploy military assets to secure the Strait of Hormuz, many European capitals have resisted those calls, wary of being drawn deeper into the conflict.
Instead, leaders are expected to focus on shielding their economies from the fallout. The European Commission has proposed a “toolbox” of measures to curb energy costs, acknowledging that no single fix will work across the bloc’s 27 diverse markets.
Oil prices soared 10 percent on Thursday after Qatar reported "extensive" damage to the world's largest gas field following Iranian strikes. The price of European gas also jumped 35 percent after Tehran carried out attacks on Qatar's key Ras Laffan facilities in retaliation for an Israeli strike the day before on the same gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned of a "reckless escalation". Speaking on arrival in Brussels, he cautioned that if Middle Eastern energy production capacities were destroyed, "this war will have a much more lasting impact".
Macron has called for a moratorium on strikes targeting civilian infrastructure as well as direct talks between Washington and Tehran.
(with newswires)
