Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán tried to reconcile with the European Union on Thursday after the two sides were deadlocked over a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine. It was reported by the AFP agency after looking at Orbán’s letter to the President of the European Council António Costa, writes TASR.
Hungary is blocking the provision of a loan to the war-torn country and a new package of sanctions against Russia, for which approval it requires Kiev to reopen the key Druzhba pipeline. The pipeline transports Russian oil through Ukraine to Slovakia and Hungary, and it was damaged by Russian attacks in January. Budapest has since blamed Ukraine for delaying its relaunch.
However, after a wave of criticism from Brussels and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, it seems that Orbán might be willing to back down, writes AFP. In a letter addressed to Costa on Thursday, the Prime Minister acknowledged that “the postponement caused certain problems in politics” and that he is trying to “timely resolution” this matter, the French agency said after seeing the document.
“Hungary is ready to engage constructively and contribute to the efforts” for reopening the pipeline, Orbán said. He therefore suggested that he would send a team of experts to Ukraine to “check the condition” of the pipeline, adding that Hungary would accept the mission’s findings.
“In my opinion, it looks like the beginning of a retreat,” an unnamed European diplomat told AFP. “It’s a potential way out – unless he needs something else before the election,” remarked the diplomat. According to AFP, he was referring to suspicions spreading in EU circles that Orbán is using the situation to strengthen his position before the April 12 parliamentary elections.
