Politico: EU looks for solution to unblock Ukraine aid by offering Orbán symbolic victory

EU officials are looking for ways to give Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán an opportunity to save face ahead of his country's elections. This could allow him to lift his veto on funding for Ukraine, avoiding a full-scale legal clash between Brussels and Budapest.

As reported by Politico, a "victory" for Orbán might take the form of a promise to resume oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline, which transports Russian oil to Eastern Europe.

"He'll [Orbán] have his goddamned pipeline. This Druzhba story is not credible in any way, but he has to have a victory in his campaign," said one diplomat familiar with the negotiations.

The EU finds itself between a rock and a hard place: on the one hand, Kyiv is facing a potential financial crisis, but on the other, Brussels is reluctant to hand the Hungarian leader a political gift before elections. Ukraine may run out of money by April, the month of Hungary's elections.

Orbán's move has sparked outrage across the EU. European Council President António Costa warned in a letter earlier this week that the Hungarian leader had violated the EU principle of "sincere cooperation", hinting at possible legal sanctions, potentially under Article 7, which could strip Budapest of its voting rights in the EU.

However, four diplomats and a senior EU official, speaking anonymously, rejected the idea of a legal solution. Instead, they argued that leaders should focus on persuading Budapest politically to lift the veto.

"There isn't time for the legal option. There will have to be a political solution," one diplomat said, referring to the idea of taking Hungary to court over blocked funds.

Two of the diplomats suggested a more realistic approach would be to draft a document that includes a promise to restore Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline, allowing Orbán to save face.

They noted that this would resemble a workaround the EU used in October 2025 to overcome Slovakia's resistance to gradually ending Russian gas imports.

Hungary has blocked a €90 billion EU loan for Ukraine by refusing to vote in favour of one of the three pieces of legislation approved by the European Parliament.

EU officials fear that pressing Orbán during an election campaign could be politically risky.