European Union foreign ministers failed to reach an agreement on Monday on financial aid to Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia. Hungary blocked both initiatives with a double veto. EU foreign chief Kaja Kallas spoke at a press conference about “a setback and a message that we did not want to deliver today.”
The EU hoped to underline European support for Ukraine with the twentieth sanctions package and a loan of 90 billion euros, just before the day that Russia began its large-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago. To mark the day, António Costa, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, will be in Kyiv on Tuesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will address the European Parliament on Tuesday.
The blockade of the loan in particular is causing Ukraine problems. In April, Ukraine runs out of money, making both civilian and military expenditure no longer possible. In December, the EU reached an agreement on the loan, with the clause that Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia would not contribute. All parties were relieved, because the controversial plan to use frozen Russian assets disappeared from the table. In response to a question about a plan B, Kallas said in passing on Monday that the EU may have to return to plan A, the credits.
The memorial wall for the fallen in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
photo HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP
No oil, then no loan, says Orbán
Hungary and Slovakia last week backtracked on their previous commitment due to damage to the Druzhba pipeline, which transports Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia via Ukraine. At the end of January, the pipeline was damaged by a Russian drone attack in western Ukraine, preventing oil from flowing to Central Europe. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico, both of whom have good ties with the Kremlin, accuse Ukraine of not repairing the pipeline quickly enough. Kallas: “I cannot blame Ukraine for giving priority to its own people. They must first restore the energy infrastructure in Ukraine that has been destroyed by Russia.”
To put pressure on Ukraine to repair the Druzhba pipeline and resume oil transit, Slovakia and Hungary stopped diesel supplies to Ukraine on February 18. On February 20, Hungary announced that the country would block the loan for this reason. Fico confirmed on Monday his threat that Slovakia will not help Ukraine cope with electricity shortages. The threats seem to have little impression on Ukraine: on the night of February 22 to 23, an oil facility in the Russian region of Tatarstan, an important link in the Druzhba pipeline, was attacked with drones.
Questions about EU decision-making
In the campaign for the Hungarian parliamentary elections on April 12, in which Orbán’s ruling party Fidesz is significantly behind the opposition party Tisza in the polls, Orbán’s anti-Ukraine rhetoric is increasing. He wants Hungary not to become involved in the war in any way and praises President Trump’s futile peace efforts.
The Hungarian blockade once again raises questions about decision-making within the EU. Responding to a question on another issue, Kallas said: “This is a problem of our decision-making. If 26 Member States want something and one Member State does not want it, then we do what that one country wants, not what the majority wants.”
In a letter sent on Monday, Costa Orbán pointed in vain to his December commitment: “Any breach of this commitment constitutes a violation of the principle of sincere cooperation. No Member State may undermine the credibility of collectively taken decisions by the European Council.”
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