EU unblocks €90bn loan
- The European Union moved to unblock a €90bn loan package for Ukraine after Hungary lifted its veto. - Reports say the compromise involved Ukraine restarting Russian oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia. - EU officials expect the package to become operational quickly, signalling durable European support as US aid has faltered. (theguardian.com) (nytimes.com)
European Union governments cleared a €90 billion loan for Ukraine after Hungary dropped the veto that had held it up for months. (dw.com) Ambassadors from the 27 member states gave preliminary approval on April 22, and the Cypriot presidency said final adoption would follow by written procedure on April 23. The package is meant to cover Ukraine’s financing needs in 2026 and 2027 as the war with Russia grinds on. (dw.com) (bostonherald.com) Hungary and Slovakia had tied their objections to the shutdown of oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian crude across Ukraine into Central Europe. Oil began moving again early on April 23, with Slovakia’s economy minister confirming the restart after a halt of nearly three months. (politico.eu) (usnews.com) The money gives Kyiv a large new backstop from Europe at a moment when United States support has become less reliable. European officials said the first disbursement could come quickly once the written procedure is completed. (yahoo.com) (rfi.fr) The loan was negotiated alongside a new European Union sanctions package on Russia, and both measures had been delayed by the same dispute. Euronews reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had pressed European leaders to lift the block once repairs on the pipeline were finished. (euronews.com) Druzhba, which means “friendship” in Russian, has remained one of the few major routes still carrying Russian oil into the European Union since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A January strike on the pipeline’s Ukrainian section disrupted those flows and turned an energy corridor into leverage in a wider fight over aid. (nbcnews.com) (politico.eu) Reuters, cited by several outlets, reported that the first shipments were expected to reach Hungary and Slovakia within about a day of pumping restarting. MOL, the Hungarian oil group, said on April 22 that crude had begun arriving in Ukraine from Belarus for onward transit. (msn.com) (usnews.com) Hungary’s government had long used its veto power to slow or block European Union steps on Ukraine, often citing national energy security. This time, the reopening of the pipeline removed the last stated obstacle to releasing one of the bloc’s biggest wartime financing packages for Kyiv. (bloomberg.com) (theguardian.com) With the veto lifted and oil moving again, Brussels is shifting from bargaining over the package to sending the money. (nytimes.com) (rfi.fr)
