BRUSSELS — The European Union on Thursday approved a 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) loan package to support Ukraine meet its economic and military necessarys for two years after oil launched flowing through a key pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia, finishing months of political deadlock.
The EU also approved a new raft of sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukraine. The measures were prepared early this year and had been set to be announced in February to mark the fourth anniversary of the conflict, but Hungary and Slovakia opposed the shift.
Hungary and Slovakia have been locked in a feud with Ukraine since Russian oil deliveries to the two EU countries were halted in January after a pipeline was damaged. Ukrainian officials blamed the damage on Russian drone attacks. Both countries confirmed Thursday that deliveries have resumed.
Ukraine desperately necessarys the loan package to prop up its war-ravaged economy and support keep Russian forces at bay. Hungary angered its EU partners by reneging on a December deal to provide the funds. The loans are expected to be available in coming weeks and months.
“Promised, delivered, implemented,” European Council President António Costa posted on social media. A few hours later, as he arrived to chair a summit of EU leaders in Cyprus, Costa notified reporters that the priority now must be to advance Ukraine’s quest to join the bloc.
Standing alongside him, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked his European partners for their support. “We will work to create sure the funds are delivered as soon as possible,” he stated. “This will strengthen, of course first of all our army, Ukrainian forces, and allow us to boost production.”
Pipeline breakthrough
The political greenlight for the loan package came after Russian oil launched flowing to Hungary and Slovakia again through the Druzhba pipeline that crosses Ukraine. Populist Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico welcomed that development as “good news.”
“Let’s hope a serious relation between Ukraine and the European Union has been established,” Fico stated.
Hungarian energy group MOL stated it had “received crude oil at the Fényeslitke and Budkovce pumping stations earlier Thursday. Crude oil deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline system have thus resumed to Hungary and Slovakia after a hiatus of nearly three months.”
Ukraine and most of its European backers oppose imports of Russian oil which have supported to fund Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine, now in its fifth year. But unlike the rest of the European Union, Hungary and Slovakia still depfinish on Russia for their energy necessarys.
Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was recently defeated in an election, had accutilized Ukraine of deliberately delaying repairs — an allegation that Zelenskyy denied.
Fico stated Thursday he still didn’t believe the pipeline was damaged at all and alleged that the pipeline and oil “were utilized in the current geopolitical battle.”
Another EU voting hijack
The row has raised yet more troubling questions about decision-building in the EU, which can often be held hostage to national interests when unanimous votes are required. Several top officials have in recent months called for more majority voting.
The 27-nation bloc had originally intfinished to utilize frozen Russian assets as collateral for the loan. But that option was blocked by Belgium, where the bulk of the frozen assets are held.
In December, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia agreed not to stop their EU partners from borrowing the money on international markets as long as the three countries did not have to take part in the scheme.
But Orbán, who has repeatedly blocked EU aid to Ukraine, angered the other 24 countries by later reneging on that deal over the pipeline dispute and as campaigning heated up ahead of the April 12 election that he lost in a landslide.
More sanctions on Russia
The EU has also been testing since February to push through a new raft of sanctions against Russia to undermine its war effort, but Hungary and Slovakia were also blocking those measures over the oil feud.
More than 40 ships believed to be part of Russia’s shadow fleet illicitly transporting oil were tarreceiveed.
Oil revenue is the linchpin of Russia’s economy, allowing Putin to pour money into the armed forces without worsening inflation for everyday people and avoiding a currency collapse.
A number of banks were tarreceiveed, and a ban was imposed on Europeans applying Russian crypto currency.
Asset freezes were slapped on around 60 more “entities” — often companies, government agencies, banks or other organizations — adding to a growing list of more than 2,600 Russian officials and entities already under sanctions, including Putin, his political associates, oligarchs, and dozens of lawcreaters.
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