Orbán threw the EU’s entire support package for Ukraine into doubt last weekend when he said he would block a €90 billion loan crucial to Ukraine’s wartime survival — as well as the EU’s 20th package of sanctions against Ukraine — unless the pipeline was repaired and oil once again started flowing to Hungary and Slovakia.
The EU is caught between Kyiv’s looming cash crunch and avoiding giving the Hungarian leader a political gift, as they are wary Orbán could weaponize a legal showdown on the campaign trail. Ukraine could run out of money by April — the same month Hungarians head to the polls.
Orbán’s move prompted outrage across the EU, with European Council President António Costa warning in a letter earlier this week that the Hungarian leader had violated the EU’s principle of “sincere cooperation.” That hinted at potential legal retribution, which could take the form of a so-called Article 7 procedure to strip Budapest of its EU voting rights.
But the four diplomats and a senior EU official, all of whom were granted anonymity to speak freely, dismissed the notion of a legal solution to Hungary’s stonewalling. Instead, they argued that leaders should focus on pressuring and cajoling Budapest to drop its veto.
“There isn’t time for the legal option,” said one of the diplomats, referring to the possibility of taking Budapest to court over blocking the funds. “There will have to be a political solution.”
Coming up with a “piece of paper” that lays out a face-saving pledge to restore Russian oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline is a more feasible way around the problem, two of the diplomats said.