Costa went on to warn Orbán that failing to abide by the Dec. 18 decision would “constitute a violation of the principle of sincere cooperation” between EU countries and that “no Member State can be allowed to undermine the credibility of decisions taken collectively by the European Council.”
However, in a reply later that same day, Orbán — who is up for reelection in April — insisted he would continue to oppose the transfer of funds, accusing Kyiv of slow-walking repairs to the Druzhba pipeline, which was damaged in a Russian drone attack.
“There are no technical obstacles to restarting the oil transfer via the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary. It only requires a political decision by Ukraine,” the Hungarian prime minister wrote. Insisting he is “one of the most disciplined and consistent” leaders in the EU, he said his veto was justified by new circumstances.
“You also certainly see the absurdity of the situation: we take a decision financially favourable to Ukraine that I personally disapprove, then Ukraine creates an energy emergency situation in Hungary, and you ask me to pretend that nothing happened. This is not possible,” he went on. “I am not in a position to support any decision whatsoever favourable to Ukraine until they return to normality.”
In his letter, Costa said he remained “fully committed” to the energy security of all EU countries and that he would raise the matter of the Druzhba pipeline with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The EU agreed on the terms of the much-needed €90 billion loan for Ukraine earlier this year, after a long-running disagreement over how to raise the cash. Without it, Kyiv could find itself short of cash as soon as April.
Costa will travel to Ukraine with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday.