Brussels – “You see how different things get blocked and how difficult it is for a united Europe to implement even decisions that have already been made.” In his address to the European Council on 19 March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made it clear the ongoing risks Ukraine faces regarding Brussels’ promises.
The current blockade of the €90 billion support loan, caused by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán‘s veto – despite it having already been agreed at the European Council in December 2025 – casts a long shadow over another key issue in relations between Kyiv and Brussels. “This must not be the case with opening the clusters for Ukraine or with our accession – this is a matter of trust, security and the future,” he told the 27 EU leaders.
Zelensky’s warning to the EU
The Ukrainian president said Kyiv is doing everything possible to “close all clusters this year,” with the aim of joining the Union as early as 2027. The European Commission has informally provided the necessary opening benchmarks for the six clusters of negotiating chapters in order to proceed swiftly with formal negotiations as soon as Hungary lifts its veto. “In line with key EU principles, reforms and the rule of law, we will ensure that everything on our side is done to open the clusters and continue the accession negotiations in 2026,” he added.
EU accession represents “a key factor in the overall mindset around ending the war,” not only for Ukraine’s security guarantees in a future peace plan. “Russia must clearly see and truly feel that Ukraine will be in Europe – and that this cannot be stopped.” For this reason, Zelensky argued for securing a clear timeframe for EU membership: “If there is a clear date, it will mean that Russia will not be able to block our accession in any way,” he told the 27 EU leaders.
However, it is Orbán’s stance on the implementation of the EU’s €90 billion Ukraine Support Loan that shows the extent to which the Hungarian prime minister can derail decisions taken by the EU to support Kyiv for electoral purposes (ahead of the national elections on 12 April). “For the third month now, the most important financial security guarantee for Ukraine from Europe has not been working,” Zelensky denounced. “This is critical for us. It is a resource to protect lives.”
Orbán has linked his latest veto to the disruption of the Druzhba pipeline passing through Ukrainian territory, which supplies cheap Russian oil to Hungary. Although a mission of EU experts is already on the ground to repair the pipeline, and European Council President António Costa made it extremely clear” to the Hungarian prime minister during the summit that his behaviour is “unacceptable” – as several EU sources confirmed – the standstill remains. Zelensky warned that “even today, we do not know for sure whether this support will be unblocked” before the Ukrainian state runs out of financial resources this spring.
For its part, Kyiv is doing what is needed and agreed with Brussels – “including on the oil pipeline” – to address Orbán’s concerns. A team from Ukrainian energy companies Naftogaz and UkrTransNafta is working “productively” to restore the flow of oil to Hungary, Zelensky said. “But the decision is yours,” he added.
How the EU’s Ukraine Support Loan works
The EU’s €90 billion Ukraine Support Loan is designed to meet Ukraine’s financial needs in 2026 and 2027. The loan is divided into two parts: €30 billion for the State budget and €60 billion to acquire military equipment and weapons with “European preference” – meaning produced in Ukraine, the EU, or EEA-EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway).
The loan will be financed through common EU borrowing on the capital markets and guaranteed by the ‘headroom’ of the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) – the financial buffer between the maximum contributions that can be collected from member states and the planned annual budget spending.
Ukraine will not be required to repay the loan until reparations are paid by Russia once the war comes to an end. If this does not occur, the EU reserves the right to use Russian assets immobilised within Member States or to rely on the ‘headroom’ of the EU’s budget.
As decided at the European Council in December 2025 to unlock the agreement on Ukraine’s support for 2026-2027, any mobilisation of EU budget resources as a guarantee for this loan will not affect the financial obligations of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. Their share – representing 3.6% of the EU’s total Gross National Income – will be redistributed among the other 24 member states based on national GNI.
Senior officials estimate that interest on the common EU borrowing will cost around €3-4 billion per year, to be paid entirely by EU contributors (excluding Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic) under the current MFF via a special instrument, and most likely within the framework of the EU’s 2028-2034 MFF.
The state of EU-Ukraine relations
Just four days after the start of Russia’s war of aggression, on 28 February 2022, Ukraine submitted its application for EU membership. On 23 June 2022, the European Council endorsed the European Commission’s recommendation to grant Kyiv candidate status.
At the European Council meeting on 14 December 2023, EU leaders gave the green light to open accession negotiations. Following the Council’s approval of the negotiating frameworks, the first intergovernmental conference was held on 25 June 2024 in Luxembourg. As recognised in the 2025 Enlargement Package, the screening process has been successfully concluded and Kyiv is now ready to open all clusters.
With Hungary continuing to veto the start of Ukraine’s EU negotiations and Kyiv’s goal to complete them by the end of 2028, on 11 November the Danish presidency secured enough informal support among the member states in the Council to continue engaging with the candidate country at working level. The discussions – focused on monitoring progress in the implementation of the EU-related reforms – are taking place solely at a technical level, with no political decisions and no clusters of chapters formally opened or closed.
On 17 March 2026, technical guidance was provided to both Ukraine and Moldova to continue work on EU reforms across all six negotiating clusters, until political conditions allow the formal process to begin – meaning Hungary lifting its veto.
Once Cluster 1 – ‘Fundamentals’ – the first group of five negotiating chapters (out of 33), focusing on economic criteria, the functioning of democratic institutions, and public administration reform – is opened, the other groups of negotiating chapters can follow. The unanimous approval of all 27 EU member states in the Council is now the only step remaining.
