The European Union faces the fourth anniversary of the war of aggression Russia contra Ukraine in the worst possible position. Not only does it remain marginalized from the supposed peace negotiations instigated by Donald Trumpbut also his entire strategy to support kyiv and weaken the Kremlin has entered into crisis due to Hungary’s veto. Viktor Orbán.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenand the head of the European Council, Antonio Costahad planned to travel to kyiv – where they will participate this Tuesday in events to mark the fourth year of war – loaded with good news: the twentieth package of sanctions against Russia and the final approval of the 90 billion credit agreed upon by the leaders in December.
But, in the end, Von der Leyen and Costa have arrived in the Ukrainian capital with empty hands. Orbán has not only vetoed the new round of punishment measures against the Kremlin, whose main novelty is the ban on all maritime services to the Russian fleet; but has also blocked the loan to kyiv, withdrawing at the last minute the surprising support it gave it in December.
“Unfortunately, no agreement has been reached on the 20th sanctions package. This is a setback and a message that we did not want to convey today, but the work continues,” declared the head of community diplomacy, Kaja Kallaat the end of the meeting of foreign ministers of the 27 held this Monday in Brussels.
At the meeting, the Hungarian representative, Péter Szijjártóhas justified the blockade by accusing Ukraine of preventing the transit of cheap Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline, although it was the Kremlin’s drones that have attacked and damaged the infrastructure.
The EU banned Russian oil in June 2022, but allowed temporary exceptions for Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the countries supplied by Druzhba. This Monday, Bratislava has joined Budapest’s veto of the twentieth sanctions package.
The head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, during the press conference this Monday in Brussels
“We have vetoed 90 billion euros in financing and we have blocked the next package of sanctions. As long as Hungary’s oil is withheld, we will block pro-Ukrainian decisions in Brussels,” Orbán warned this Monday in an appearance before the Hungarian parliament.
The Hungarian prime minister is immersed in a particularly contested electoral campaign ahead of the April elections, in which all polls place Péter Hungarianleader of the opposition party Tiszaas a clear favorite.
Magyar, who held prominent positions alongside Orbán, left his Fidesz party in 2024 due to his corruption and authoritarian driftand has since adopted more positions Europeanistsaligning with the European People’s Party.
Orbán’s vetoes – considered in Brussels as the Russian Trojan Horse and also ideologically close to Trump – provoke indignation, although they are not surprising. Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the Hungarian prime minister has systematically hindered and delayed both sanctions against Russia and military assistance to kyiv.
But EU leaders believe that, this time, Orbán has gone too far by reneging on the approval that he himself granted in December to the loan of 90 billion to Ukraine. His condition was that Budapest, Prague and Bratislava would be exempt from any financial obligation, a requirement that the rest of the European leaders have respected.
In an unprecedented gesture, António Costa wrote to the Hungarian Prime Minister this Monday to urge him to fulfill his commitment. “When leaders reach consensus, they are bound by their decision. Any breach of this commitment constitutes a violation of the principle of loyal cooperation“says the letter.
“No Member State can be allowed to undermine the credibility of the decisions taken collectively by the European Council,” says Costa. Volodymyr Zelensky’s government needs European money urgently, since it will run out of funds in April and Trump has turned off the aid tap.
The president of the European Council, António Costa
The Foreign Minister of Lithuania, Kestutis Budryssuggests pressing the ‘nuclear button’ against Hungary: take the sanctioning procedure of the article 7 of the Treatywhich would deprive Orbán of his voting rights in the EU.
Despite Hungary’s continued boycott, the EU is convinced that the only recipe for ending the war is to stay the course on its strategy of support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia. In Brussels, no one believes in the negotiation sponsored by Trump, because the US president is only pressuring Ukraine to cede territory and not Vladimir Putin.
“Russian negotiators They are not really serious and they are not willing to talk about anything political. We have seen a lot of pressure on Ukraine to give in and give up what is not willing to deliverbut that will not bring lasting peace. Therefore, I’m not very optimistic that we will see results in the coming weeks or months,” Kallas said.