BRUSSELS: European Union leaders on Thursday lashed out at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, accusing him of hijacking critical aid for Ukraine and undermining EU decision-making in an effort to win an election at home.
In a rare public tirade against a member of their ranks, leaders insisted that Orban must respect the 27-nation bloc's decision in December to fund Ukraine's armed forces and war-ravaged economy for the next two years.
Orban himself had previously approved what is seen as a critical lifeline for war-ravaged Ukraine.
“He's using Ukraine as a weapon in his election campaigning, and it's not good. We had a deal, and I think that he betrayed us,” Finland Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters as the leaders gathered for a summit in Brussels.
Ukraine's economy is in tatters. EU officials believe it must get at least a sizeable part of the 90-billion-euro (USD 103-billion) loan by the start of May. For that to happen, work must move forward on the EU agreement within two to three weeks.
Orban – who is seen as Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in Europe and is a strident nationalist admired by US President Donald Trump – is trailing in opinion polls ahead of elections on April 12. Part of his election campaign has been to portray Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as an existential threat to Hungary.
He has alleged that the Ukrainian leader, along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, wants to drag Hungary into Russia's war, now in its fifth year. He has claimed that his reelection is the only guarantee of peace and security.
Fellow EU leaders are now taking Orban to task, pulling the rug from under his claims that EU institutions in Brussels are against him.
“I have the impression that this is part of his electoral campaign, but in any case we have to respect the decisions that were taken here,” Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever told reporters. "It's unacceptable to decide with the leaders and then after say but I'm not ready to execute what I decided.'”
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said that “what we decide — and what he has agreed to —must be implemented”. He said that if Orban is using the election as a pretext, then “this is not a valid argument given the situation in Ukraine, the plight of the people in Ukraine, and what we ourselves have decided.”
The standoff has highlighted important weaknesses in EU decision-making procedures, which often require unanimous agreement among the 27 member countries. Hungary has a population of almost 10 million, a fraction of the bloc's 450 million people.
Ukraine and Hungary have been locked in an escalating feud since deliveries of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia were halted in January due to damage to the Druzhba pipeline, which crosses Ukrainian territory.
Ukrainian officials blame the damage on Russian drone attacks, but Orbán accuses Zelenskyy of deliberately holding up oil supplies. Hungary has not only vetoed the loan package, it's also blocking a new round of EU sanctions against Russia.
In an effort to break the deadlock, von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa offered this week to pay for repairs to the pipeline. An EU technical team is in Kyiv awaiting security clearance to inspect the site.
But Orban vowed to continue to block the loan as long as oil shipments to Hungary are halted.
“What we are talking about is not politics, it is existential for Hungary. To get the oil is existential for the Hungarians,” said Orban, who has been Hungary's prime minister since 2010 and is seeking his fifth term. “It's not a joke, it's not a political game. Zelenskyy should understand it."