EU prepares €90bn loan for Ukraine despite Hungarian veto

The Council of the European Union is set on Tuesday (24 February) to approve two EU legislative acts enabling further technical work on a €90 billion loan for Ukraine, even as Hungary continues to block a third legal measure required to complete the process, European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told European Pravda, an EUalive partner.

The European Commission will proceed with preparations to provide the first tranche of the €90 billion loan in April 2026 despite Hungary’s refusal to adopt one of the necessary legislative proposals.

“First of all, what will happen tomorrow: tomorrow there will be finalisation of the Regulation on the loan to support Ukraine, and this process is going according to plan,” Dombrovskis said.

He explained that approval of the document on 24 February “will complete the political decision-making on a loan in support of Ukraine”.

“This will allow us to work on the further documents necessary to grant a loan to Ukraine, including a financing strategy for this year. We are already working on all these documents,” the European Commissioner added.

Dombrovskis recalled that political discussions are ongoing regarding amendments to the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) — the Union’s long-term budget for 2021-2027 — whose adoption has been blocked by Hungary.

“These amendments are needed so that the European Commission can actually carry out borrowing at EU level to provide this support to Ukraine,” he said.

Hungary’s refusal to approve changes to the long-term EU budget does not pose an immediate threat to the process, as the Commission must in any case prepare to raise funds for Ukraine on international financial markets.

“In December, all EU leaders, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, agreed to support the loan. Moreover, Hungary, together with Slovakia and the Czech Republic, does not participate in this financial support. Therefore, we expect that they will comply with this agreement,” Dombrovskis said.

“We would like to start payments to Ukraine in early April,” he added.

At their December summit EU leaders abandoned their initial push to finance Ukraine’s defence and reconstruction through profits from frozen Russian central bank assets, opting instead for a €90 billion loan raised via joint borrowing on capital markets – secured against the EU budget – to cover Kyiv’s needs for 2026-2027.

EU pivots to plan B: joint borrowing for Ukraine, shelving frozen Russian assets plan

According to European Pravda, Hungary blocked the €90 billion loan by refusing to vote for one of the three legislative acts — amendments to the EU’s 2021-2027 budget — required to release the funds.

All three acts have already been approved by the European Parliament and are at the final stage of adoption in the Council.

The documents were expected to be adopted by the Council and signed at the European Parliament on 24 February, marking the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Budapest has said it will continue blocking the €90 billion package until Kyiv resumes the transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline.

Szijjártó: Ukraine hates Hungary

Meanwhile, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó again accused Ukraine of pursuing “anti-Hungarian policies” and showing “hatred” towards Hungary, speaking to journalists ahead of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

Hungary “does not hate Ukraine”, he said, but “the problem is that the Ukrainian state hates Hungary and has pursued anti-Hungarian policies over the past ten years”.

“Ukraine is behaving very hostilely towards Hungary. Ask Ukrainians why they stopped oil supplies to Hungary, why they jeopardise Hungary’s energy security, why they do not restore rights to the Hungarian national community — and I am very interested in what their answer will be,” Szijjártó said.

He also accused the European Commission of acting as a “Ukrainian commission” by placing Ukraine’s interests above those of Hungary.

According to him, Budapest’s decision to suspend support for sanctions and the loan is linked to Ukraine’s refusal to resume oil supplies.

“The ball is on Ukraine’s side, because it is Ukrainians who decide when to resume oil supplies to Hungary. Until this happens, Hungary’s position will not change,” Szijjártó added.

He further stated that Budapest would block the EU’s 20th sanctions package against Russia, claiming Ukraine was deliberately failing to repair the Druzhba oil pipeline.

EU fractures: Hungary and Slovakia veto sanctions on Russia amid pipeline standoff

The standoff occurs against a backdrop of fragile transatlantic relations and internal EU challenges. In Hungary, Orbán’s Fidesz party trails in polls ahead of the 12 April elections, where opposition leader Péter Magyar’s Tisza party campaigns on restoring EU ties to unlock frozen funds.

Caption: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (C), alongside Valdis Dombrovskis (L), European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, and Marta Kos, European Commissioner for Enlargement, give a press conference on a loan to support Ukraine’s financial needs for 2026 and 2027, in Brussels, Belgium, 14 January 2026. The Commission says the proposed loan totals EUR 90 billion for 2026-2027, to be raised through EU borrowing on capital markets and backed by the EU budget. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET