“In view of recent developments”, in particular the defeat of the outgoing Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, in the Hungarian parliamentary elections, the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union has decided to include the EU’s €90 billion loan to Ukraine for 2026 and 2027 on the agenda for the meeting of the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) on Wednesday 22 April (see EUROPE 13825/26).
Even if Péter Magyar’s government does not come to power until early May, the Hungarian authorities should lift their veto, which is blocking unanimous adoption by the Member States of the last of the three legislative texts formalising the loan to Ukraine, namely the proposal amending the EU budget to authorise the European Commission to borrow on the markets.
On Sunday 19 April, Mr Orbán reported on X that there were “indications” from Brussels “that Ukraine would resume deliveries of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline as early as Monday, provided that Hungary lifts its veto”. “Once oil deliveries have resumed, we will no longer oppose the adoption of the loan”, he added. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)