'Like dealing with 6-year-old': EU leaders split over how to handle Hungary's Orbán
Viktor Orbán (photo: Getty Images)
EU leaders are divided in their approach to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, hoping to persuade him to approve a €90 billion loan for Ukraine, Politico reports.
According to several sources, Hungary's prime minister broke a promise given at the summit in December, namely, he had promised to approve the loan. By doing this, he is allegedly undermining the very foundation of EU decision-making, which depends on governments honoring firm commitments.
Orbán "is violating one of the fundamental principles of our cooperation," said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz shortly after the summit ended.
His refusal to approve a loan for Ukraine after official agreement in December "is a serious breach of the loyalty among member states, undermines the European Union's ability to act and damages the reputation of the EU as a whole."
As Europe appears powerless amid the escalation of war in the Middle East, leaders hoped they could at least secure money for Ukraine to help it resist Russia, in a conflict where the EU feels it actually has some influence.
EU leaders split into two groups to persuade Orbán to change his mind. At the same time, most EU leaders increased pressure on Hungarian politicians.
"It was very, very harsh criticism, and the feeling was this simply cannot go on like this. I have never heard such hard-hitting criticism at an EU summit of anyone, ever," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told journalists.
However, there were some leaders who tried the opposite approach. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Bart De Wever of Belgium tried to appeal to Orbán's ego, speaking sympathetically about understanding his position.
"You have to treat him like a 6-year-old child, you have to humor him," one diplomat said.
According to several sources, in one way or another, everything will change after the Hungarians go to elections on April 12. If Orbán loses, his successor may be motivated to remove Budapest's obstacles in exchange for EU funds.
"France and Germany were not willing to spend too much time" or "political capital" to persuade Orbán at Thursday's summit, and had "no willingness … to help his electoral campaign," a source told the publication.
Earlier, Orbán used damage to the Druzhba oil pipeline in January to block a loan for Ukraine. This is a breach of his own word given to EU leaders, and at the same time, a convenient pretext for the election campaign.
