European Commission expects Orbán to honour pledge on €90bn Ukraine loan

The European Commission has said it expects Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to honour a pledge he made at the European Council meeting on 19 December and approve a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine for 2026-2027.

The European Commission expects Hungary to back the €90 billion loan for Ukraine.

Paula Pinho, European Commission Chief Spokesperson, said the European Council has agreed to provide Ukraine with a loan on the sole condition that three member states will not take financial part in the programme.

She added that this condition has now been met and said the Commission expects all leaders to stick to their commitments.

Pinho also said that failure to do so is or would be an obvious breach of the principle of sincere cooperation.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged Hungary at the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 23 February to stop blocking the €90 billion loan for Kyiv and to unblock approval of the EU's 20th sanctions package against Russia.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that Budapest will block the adoption of the European Union's 20th package of sanctions against Russia on Monday, claiming that Ukraine is deliberately not repairing the Druzhba oil pipeline damaged by Russian strikes.

Hungary has also officially refused to approve the €90 billion loan for Ukraine that was previously agreed upon in Brussels.

Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has said ahead of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting that the Union's 20th sanctions package against Russia is unlikely to be adopted on 23 February due to blocking by Hungary.