BRUSSELS — At a summit in Brussels on March 19, 2026, leaders of the European Union criticized Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for blocking aid to Ukraine ahead of Hungary's elections. EU leaders insisted that Viktor Orbán must respect the EU's December decision to fund Ukraine's armed forces and economy for the next two years.

Hungary has vetoed the EU loan package for Ukraine and is blocking a new round of EU sanctions against Russia. Viktor Orbán vowed to continue blocking the loan as long as oil shipments to Hungary were halted. Deliveries of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline were halted in January 2026 due to damage to the pipeline, and Viktor Orbán accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of deliberately holding up oil supplies.

"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," said Petteri Orpo, Prime Minister of Finland. Opinion polls showed Viktor Orbán trailing ahead of Hungary's April 12, 2026 elections. Orbán's campaign portrayed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as an existential threat to Hungary, and Viktor Orbán alleged that Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wanted to drag Hungary into Russia's war.

"The guiding principle of the European Union is one of loyalty and reliability," said Friedrich Merz, Chancellor of Germany. "Setting up this blockade in Europe now for domestic political reasons and because of an election campaign that is being conducted there." EU officials said that work on the EU agreement must progress within two to three weeks to allow disbursement of the loan by the start of May.

"It's unacceptable to decide with the leaders and then afterwards say 'but I'm not ready to execute what I decided,'" said Bart De Wever, Prime Minister of Belgium. Viktor Orbán had previously approved the EU loan program intended to support Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa offered to pay for repairs to the Druzhba pipeline, and an EU technical team is in Kyiv awaiting security clearance to inspect the pipeline site.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico withdrew support for a planned summit statement on Ukraine because it did not include the pipeline oil delivery issue he had requested. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed EU leaders via video link. Viktor Orbán said that his reelection is the only guarantee of peace and security.