EU leaders failed to persuade Orban to lift his block on a loan to support Ukraine

EU leaders condemn Hungary's Orban for blocking Ukraine loan

EU leaders condemned Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, after he refused to drop his veto to a €90bn loan for Ukraine, accusing him of acting in bad faith and reneging on an agreement reached in December. Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, described the move as “a gross act of disloyalty”, warning it would “leave deep marks”, while the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the loan remained blocked because “one leader is not honouring his word” but insisted it would be delivered “one way or the other”. At a summit in Brussels, leaders openly criticised Orbán’s stance, with European Council president António Costa saying: “Nobody can blackmail the European institutions.” The bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said Hungary was “taking [its] agreement back” and questioned how the EU could enforce the deal, adding she did not expect a resolution before Hungary’s 12 April elections.

Orbán, alongside Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico, also refused to endorse a European Council statement supporting the release of funds, and showed no sign of compromise, saying he would not back any decision benefiting Ukraine while Hungary was unable to receive oil deliveries it considers its own. The dispute centres on the Druzhba pipeline, which Ukraine says was damaged in a Russian air attack but which Orbán has accused Kyiv of failing to repair.

EU leaders said his position undermined decision-making as Ukraine faces urgent funding needs. Finland’s prime minister, Petteri Orpo, accused Orbán of using Ukraine “as a weapon” in his election campaign. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever called the reversal “unacceptable”, while officials said Hungary and Slovakia were also blocking a new sanctions package against Russia. Although Ukraine has agreed to accept EU support to repair the pipeline, Orbán’s stance has not shifted, as he continues an election campaign portraying his opponent, Péter Magyar, as a puppet of Brussels and Kyiv.

Reuters: JD Vance to visit Budapest ahead of Hungarian elections

US vice-president JD Vance is preparing to travel to Hungary in the coming days in as a show of support for Viktor Orbán, who faces a tightening race ahead of next month’s election, Reuters reports. The planned visit follows a February trip by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who publicly backed Orbán as he confronts his most difficult re-election bid since 2010, with opinion polls indicating he is trailing in the final stretch before the 12 April vote. The timing of Vance’s trip remains uncertain and could shift, particularly as senior US officials weigh staying in Washington during the ongoing US-Israeli air war on Iran. The White House declined to comment.

Orbán, a close ally of Donald Trump, has long clashed with the EU, particularly over Ukraine, maintaining ties with Moscow and rejecting both arms deliveries to Kyiv and its EU accession. Concerns over Hungary’s democratic trajectory were raised by Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego, who questioned Rubio’s earlier visit and asked how it served US strategic interests. Trump, who recently endorsed Orbán, has similarly backed conservative figures globally, while Vance is seen as a prominent player in foreign policy and a potential 2028 presidential candidate.

Orbán to host key figures of the European far right

Two major Fidesz-sponsored events are scheduled in the coming days. The invitees are mostly far-right politicians, and the list also includes an influencer with ties to Russia.

The first event is CPAC Hungary on Saturday, featuring almost no US speakers. Speakers will include former Polish right-wing Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who is currently seeking to legitimize a law modeled on Russia’s “agent law.”

The other event will be a meeting of the ruling party’s European Parliamentary group, the European Patriots, organized by the Fidesz Foundation. In addition to Viktor Orbán, the speakers' list includes,

Another notable speaker will be influencer Dave Rubin, who has earlier interviewed Viktor Orbán. Two years ago, YouTube banned him because he worked with a media company called Tenet Media, which illegally received millions of dollars from two employees of the Russian state-funded channel RT. Tenet is owned by political influencer Lauren Chen, who previously appeared as a guest at the MCC festival, which is also linked to the Hungarian government.