Brussels has plan to provide Ukraine with €30bn despite veto by Hungary and Slovakia – Politico

Brussels has a plan to provide Ukraine with at least part of the financing it needs, even if Hungary and Slovakia continue to block final approval of a €90 billion loan.

Source: Politico, a Brussels-based politics and policy news organisation, citing its sources; European Pravda

Details: Two European diplomats told Politico that the European Union has a plan to provide Ukraine with at least part of the financing it requires for defence and all its other needs if approval of the €90 billion loan remains deadlocked.

At a Brussels summit next week, EU leaders still hope to persuade Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico to stick to their initial promise made at a December summit to approve a €90 billion loan for Ukraine. However, if those hopes do not materialise, the Baltic states and Northern European countries have a plan to provide Ukraine with the funds it needs for essential expenditure at least for the first half of 2026.

Another source involved in the discussions told Politico that the total amount under consideration is €30 billion in the form of bilateral loans, which would accordingly not require a centralised EU decision.

In addition, Dutch Finance Minister Eelco Heinen reportedly told his peers that The Hague plans to provide Ukraine with €3.5 billion in bilateral support until 2029.

The idea of providing funds in a bilateral format was discussed even before the December summit. At that time, preference was given to pressing ahead with the EU loan decision because the alternative would undermine the impression of European solidarity and highlight deep divisions within the EU. However, in a situation where time is running out, Ukraine needs money and some certainty, and while Orbán is standing his ground, this is becoming almost the only option.

Several sources told Politico that, as of now, Ukraine has enough money to cover urgent needs until early May, after the IMF approved a US$8.1 billion loan at the end of February and immediately provided a US$1.5 billion tranche. Without this, the money would have run out by the end of March, leaving Ukraine in a very vulnerable position.

In European capitals friendly to Ukraine and in Kyiv, there is still hope that Orbán will lose the election on 12 April because opinion polls give every reason to hope for this. His opponent, Peter Magyar, is unlikely to categorically block a joint EU loan, especially if Russian oil transit through Druzhba resumes or if the EU offers incentives, such as unfreezing currently frozen European funds for Hungary or approving Budapest's request for €16 billion through the SAFE programme.

If Orbán stays in power, the EU hopes he will eventually relent because he will no longer have such an obvious reason to do so as he does now, when he has made anti-Ukrainian rhetoric central to his election campaign.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is considered a smaller obstacle than Orbán.

Background: On 10 March, European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the EU will eventually provide Ukraine with €90 billion "one way or another".

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