EU approves €90bn Ukraine loan after Hungary lifts veto
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- EU gave final approval to the €90 billion loan for Ukraine after Hungary lifted its veto, with Brussels saying the first payment will be made “as soon as possible”.
- Ambassadors launched the internal procedure on Wednesday and finalized it on Thursday, and no objections were raised to the last pending regulation that required unanimity to amend the EU budget.
- Zelenskyy announced that the Druzhba pipeline, which carries cheap Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, had been repaired and could resume operations, a development that preceded the loan breakthrough by two days.
- Orbán had blocked the loan in February over the Druzhba oil flow interruption, a move condemned by other EU leaders as unacceptable blackmail and described by a senior diplomat as a turning point in Brussels‑Budapest relations.
- Cyprus, holding the EU Council’s rotating presidency, added the loan to the ambassadors’ meeting before Zelenskyy’s pipeline announcement, seizing the window of opportunity to break the deadlock.
- European Commission will manage the financial scheme and confirmed the first tranche to Kyiv is expected by May–June, aiming to strengthen Ukraine’s army and resilience as outlined by President Zelenskyy.
Why it matters: The approval unlocks €90 billion of financing for Ukraine, strengthening its armed forces and resilience, while ending Hungary’s leverage over EU aid and signaling a reset in Brussels‑Budapest relations; the first tranche is expected by May‑June, delivering immediate significant fiscal certainty.
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