EU's loan for Ukraine faces uncertainty, Poland's PM warns
Photo: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (Getty Images)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is using the Ukraine issue in his domestic election campaign. Therefore, it is unlikely that the EU loan for Kyiv will be released before the elections on April 12, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says.
According to Tusk, European leaders have failed to convince Orbán, and he remains determined to block aid for Ukraine by using certain procedural or formal tricks.
The Polish Prime Minister notes that this is a bad situation from both a Polish and European perspective, since it is, above all, about the chance to stop Russia and its aggression in Ukraine.
He adds that Brussels will look for other ways to resolve this issue, but it will not be easy, as the question of financial aid for Ukraine requires unanimity among EU countries.
Tusk also emphasizes the EU has no plan B on this issue.
He notes that his political intuition tells him that by April 12, the date of the elections in Hungary, we will not be able to launch the financial aid, the loan for Ukraine
Orbán blocks loan for Ukraine
Hungary continues to block the provision of a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine.
Budapest began blocking the loan after operations on the Druzhba oil pipeline were suspended following a Russian attack in late January.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán states that he would not lift the veto until Russian oil supplies through Ukrainian territory are restored.
On March 19, leaders of EU member states gathered in Brussels to discuss pressing issues such as the war in Ukraine and aid to Ukraine. However, despite heated debates, they were unable to convince the Hungarian Prime Minister to lift his veto on the loan.
Following the summit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that the EU would, in one way or another, provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan, despite Hungary's opposition.
For more details on what happened yesterday in Brussels, what the EU is hoping for, and whether there is a Plan B, read the article by RBC-Ukraine.
