Zelensky urges EU to bypass Hungary’s ‘blackmail’ veto on vital US$103 billion loan

2026.03.18 14:50 Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (right) receives Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the headquarters of the Spanish government on Wednesday. Photo: dpa Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday urged the European Union to overcome a veto by Hungary on a €90 billion (US$103 billion) loan vital for his country. Zelensky, during a visit to Madrid to meet Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, said he considered that the “main issue” of an EU summit to be held Thursday and Friday in Brussels. “We are really counting on the countries and the EU to find ways to resolve this issue,” he said. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in the EU – has been blocking the EU loan to Kyiv, in part because of a pipeline that supplies his country with Russian oil that has been closed in Ukraine. The Druzhba oil pipeline between Hungary and Russia is seen at the Hungarian MOL Group’s Danube Refinery in Szazhalombatta on May 18, 2022. Photo: Reuters Ukraine has said the Druzhba pipeline was damaged by Russian strikes in January. The EU on Tuesday said it had offered to send European experts to help repair the conduit. Zelensky, who had previously called Hungary’s position “blackmail”, said in Madrid that “it is unfair” that the loan was being held up, as it was agreed before the end of 2025. “In my view, appropriate arguments will be found” to have the loan unblocked, he said. The Ukrainian leader was making his visit to Spain after a stop in London on Tuesday, seen as part of an effort by Kyiv to keep the war against Russia a priority for European capitals, even as they grapple with fallout from the US-Israeli war against Iran that is consuming the Middle East. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (right) talks to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during their meeting at La Moncloa Palace in Madrid on Wednesday. Photo: EPA “Nothing and nobody can make us forget what is happening in Ukraine,” San

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