EU loan for Ukraine unlocked after Druzhba pipeline restarts

The European Union has finally moved to unlock a vital financial lifeline for Ukraine, a move that was held hostage by political maneuvering from Hungary and Slovakia. For months, the specter of Ukraine's collapsing finances loomed, threatening the very stability of the nation amidst an ongoing war. The breakthrough came not from a sudden surge of solidarity, but from the pragmatic restoration of oil flow through the Druzhba pipeline, a lifeline for Budapest and Bratislava.

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The package under discussion amounts to 90 billion euros and aims to ensure the liquidity of the Ukrainian state through 2026 and 2027.

This saga highlights the complex web of dependencies and political leverage within the EU. Viktor Orbán's government in Hungary and Robert Fico's administration in Slovakia weaponized the aid package, using Ukraine's financial vulnerability as a bargaining chip in Brussels. Their demands, tied to energy supplies, underscore the persistent influence of Russian energy on certain member states, even as the continent grapples with the consequences of Moscow's aggression.

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The unlocking was directly linked to the energy issue. Russian crude oil began to flow again on Wednesday through the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline, after weeks of interruptions caused by infrastructure damage.

While the 90 billion euro package is a critical endorsement of Ukraine's resilience, its delayed approval reveals the internal fractures within the EU. The shift from potentially using frozen Russian assets to international market financing also points to the legal and political complexities that continue to challenge collective action. From a European perspective, this is a necessary step, but the underlying tensions exposed by this negotiation will undoubtedly shape future policy debates.

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Both Hungary and Slovakia had conditioned their support for the financial package and new sanctions against Moscow on the normalization of oil flow.