KYIV — Hungary shouldn’t “disrespect” the EU’s decision to give €90 billion to Ukraine, which Budapest has blocked after originally agreeing last December, European Council President António Costa told POLITICO.
“We need to implement what we agreed on the 18th of December, to deliver the €90B loan to Ukraine,” Costa said in Kyiv, where he traveled with other leaders to mark the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion. “And nobody can disrespect the decision from the European Council.”
Budapest has threatened to block the €90B loan over a dispute with Ukraine about an oil pipeline connecting Russia to Central Europe, which Hungary says Kyiv is refusing to operate in a bid to orchestrate an energy crisis. Ukraine insists the pipeline is offline due to a Russian strike.
“We talked, we negotiate, we agreed, and then we need to deliver on this,” Costa said about the funding, adding Hungary should “immediately respect what we collectively decided last December.”
This article is being updated.