The Ukrainian leader has taken aim at the Hungarian PM over his refusal to lift a veto on billions in EU loans for Kiev
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has issued an apparent military threat to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban over the ongoing refusal by Budapest to lift a veto on billions in loans underwritten by EU members for Kiev.
Orban last month blocked a planned €90 billion ($106 billion) emergency loan raised by EU members for Kiev – following the bloc's failure to agree on outright stealing billions in Russian assets frozen in Belgium. Orban took the step in response to Ukraine preventing key Russian oil supplies from reaching Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline.
Speaking on new weapons for Kiev’s armed forces on Thursday, Zelensky stated: “We hope that one person in the EU will not block the €90 billion… Otherwise, we will give the address of this person to our armed forces, to our guys, so that they call him and communicate with him in their own language.”
The diplomatic dispute between Hungary and Ukraine has escalated in recent weeks, spilling over into personal barbs. Zelensky launched a string of attacks against Orban, including fat-shaming him during the Munich Security Conference last month.
The Hungarian prime minister has long opposed Ukraine’s push to join the EU, and has repeatedly refused to send it weapons or approve EU military aid, calling for diplomacy instead.
Read moreHungary will block ‘every’ EU decision on Ukraine over ‘oil blockade’ – Orban
Orban, meanwhile, has taken to social media to issue his own warning.
“There will be no deals, no compromise. We will break the Ukrainian oil blockade by force,” he wrote on X on Thursday, adding that oil will soon flow to Hungary again through the Druzhba pipeline.
The Soviet-era pipeline, part of which runs through Ukraine, went offline in January after Kiev claimed it had been damaged by Russian strikes – accusations Moscow denies. Hungary and Slovakia, both heavily reliant on Russian energy, have accused Kiev of deliberately cutting them off for political reasons and inventing obstacles for restarting oil flows.
Zelensky has issued threats against foreign leaders and officials before. Last year, he suggested that Russia’s top officials should check for bomb shelters, hinting that Ukraine could target the Kremlin. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the comments “irresponsible.”
