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The EU is looking for a workaround to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan

Katerina Melnychenko
Katerina Melnychenko Deputy Editor-in-Chief
The EU is looking for a workaround to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan
Ursula von der Leyen after the EU summit in Brussels, stock photo
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has stated that the European Union will find a way to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan, despite Hungary’s opposition. She made this statement following a summit in Brussels, where EU leaders failed to persuade Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to change his position.

This is according to Reuters. Following the EU summit

in Brussels, Ursula von der Leyen told journalists that the European Union would provide Ukraine with the promised €90 billion loan “one way or another”. According to Reuters, this involves finding a mechanism to circumvent Hungary’s veto.

The issue of the loan has once again become a subject of controversy against the backdrop of Budapest’s stance. Reuters reports that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán maintained his veto during the Brussels summit, whilst European Council President António Costa described such resistance as “unacceptable”. In his words, agreements must be honoured, and no one can blackmail the European Council.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as reported by Reuters, stated that leaders had asked the European Commission to find a way to disburse the loan. He described Orbán’s actions as an unprecedented “act of serious disloyalty” and said that this undermines the European Union’s authority.

Earlier, Reuters reported that the EU already has the tools to bypass the Hungarian veto, but this requires political will. On the eve of the summit, EU High Representative Kaja Kallas stated that such options exist, and that the dispute over the loan is also linked to tensions arising from the halt in oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline.

According to Reuters, EU leaders agreed on the €90 billion loan back in December 2025 to cover Ukraine’s financial needs in 2026–2027. In February 2026, EU ambassadors had already agreed on the technical details of this mechanism, but the final progress of the decision once again ran into a political blockage from Hungary.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also stated on the eve of the summit that Kyiv is counting on this package being unblocked. Reuters reported that the Ukrainian side considers financial assistance to be critically important given the difficult situation amid the war.

As a reminder, the EU will fulfil its commitment regarding the €90 billion loan to Ukraine, Ursula von der Leyen stated

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