Budapest is fuelling anti-Ukraine sentiment ahead of a key election.
Hungary has thrown the EU’s planned €90 billion loan to Ukraine into crisis after threatening to block the deal until the flow of Russian oil resumes through the Druzhba pipeline.
The Hungarian government issued the warning on Friday evening, as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán tries to weaponize anti-Ukraine sentiment ahead of a key election where he risks losing power after more than 15 years.
“Ukraine is blackmailing Hungary by halting oil transit in coordination with Brussels and the Hungarian opposition to create supply disruptions in Hungary and push fuel prices higher before the elections,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó wrote on X. “We will not give in to this blackmail.”
Hungary’s threat to veto the loan is a major setback for Ukraine, whose coffers will begin running low on cash from April. Kyiv will struggle to sustain its war effort without fresh funds, leaving it at a disadvantage in ongoing peace talks with Russia.
What a clown. Enriching himself and his cronies, running a fascist regime, playing backdoor into Europe for daddy Putin, but “Ukrain bad make car cost money”.