​Hungary to block €90bn EU loan for Ukraine until oil transit via Druzhba pipeline resumes

Hungary will block the €90bn European Union loan package for Ukraine until its neighbour resumes crude oil deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said following a meeting of the Energy Security Council on February 22

In a video posted on Facebook, Orban stressed that Hungary currently faces no energy security risk and that fuel supplies and normal operations are assured after the government released 250,000 tonnes of reserves, which is 40% of the total and enough to cover the needs for more than 38 days.

The prime minister accused Ukraine of preventing the transit of cheap Russian oil to Hungary, creating what he described as an energy security threat.

He said the government had decided on countermeasures, including suspending approval of a military loan to Ukraine that requires Hungary’s consent, and withholding support for further EU sanctions, including the 20th sanctions package under discussion, until oil deliveries are restored.

Last week, Hungary and Slovakia halted diesel deliveries to Ukraine after a Russian attack damaged the pipeline on Ukrainian territory. Both countries, heavily reliant on Russian crude transported through the Druzhba pipeline, accused Kyiv of deliberately delaying repairs for political reasons, but Budapest provided no evidence to support its allegations.

The Orban government said Ukraine is blackmailing Hungary and interfering in the election with plans to create an energy crisis. With further measures, Budapest and Slovakia threatened to cut off electricity and gas supplies if the oil transit is not restored.

To address the situation, the European Commission has convened an extraordinary meeting of its Oil Coordination Group for February 25, which will include the two countries and Croatia, which, for now, remains Hungary's sole source of supply. Zagreb signalled that it would help both countries affected by the disruption but has rejected supplying Russian oil through the Adriatic pipeline, despite Hungary's exemption from sanctions imposed by the EU and the US.

Croatian oil pipeline operator Janaf, in a statement on February 18, said that crude oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia remain fully secured, with substantial volumes of non-Russian crude currently being delivered to MOL. The company dismissed reports of supply disruptions as unfounded and proposed conducting additional capacity tests in cooperation with the European Commission, according to independent news site Telex.hu.

Speaking at a Fidesz rally in southern Hungary on February 21, Orban said Ukraine "will do everything to create economic chaos " ahead of the parliamentary election, with a view to aiding the opposition.

 "Whoever bites us will get their teeth knocked out," he told fired-up supporters.

Referring to the Druzhba oil pipeline, he stated that Hungary was confident the infrastructure remained technically fit to transport crude, but claimed Ukraine had shut it down without legal grounds. He cited the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, arguing that Kyiv is not permitted to take measures that would jeopardise the energy security of any EU member state.

As part of the countermeasures, the prime minister said Hungary would block a previously approved €90bn to Ukraine, which had been agreed on the understanding that Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic would not be required to participate.

At the December EU summit, EU leaders agreed on a €90bn support loan for Ukraine for 2026–2027, financed through joint EU borrowing. Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia secured an exemption. While the loan can proceed without their financial backing, its full implementation still requires unanimous approval.

At the summit, Hungary has also rejected proposals to object to using frozen Russian central bank assets directly to fund financial support for Ukraine. The idea was scrapped by EU leaders, who instead decided on a €90bn loan to the war-torn country for 2026-2027, financed through joint EU borrowing backed by the EU budget.