EU Says It Will Get War Loan to Ukraine Despite Hungarian Opposition

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban looks on, before the voting of the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership in Budapest, Hungary, February 26, 2024. Bernadett Szabo/ReutersThe European Union will find ways to pay out a promised 90 billion euro ($104.2 billion) loan to Ukraine despite Hungary’s resistance to the plan, European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen said on March 20. Unanimous support from all EU members is required for the measures to pass.“We will deliver one way or the other. The loan remains blocked, because one leader is not honouring his word,” von der Leyen told reporters after a summit in Brussels, where EU leaders once again failed to convince Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to back down on his opposition to the bloc’s loan to Kyiv. Orban’s ire stems from the shutdown of the Druzhba pipeline.