Kremlin Downplays Orban's Influence Over EU's Ukraine Loan

(MENAFN) The Kremlin moved swiftly Sunday to downplay the political significance of Viktor Orban's electoral defeat, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov asserting that the European Union was always determined to release a €90 billion ($106 billion) loan package to Ukraine — with or without Hungary's long-serving prime minister standing in the way.

"One way or another, they would have found a way to unblock this money, with or without (Hungary's outgoing Prime Minister Victor) Orban," Peskov told state broadcaster Vesti, adding pointedly: "There is no need to harbor any illusions about this."

The remarks carry particular weight after EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas signaled that the bloc's freeze on the landmark loan — agreed upon by EU leaders in December to cover Ukraine's financing needs through 2026 and 2027 — could be lifted as early as next week.

"On the EU side, it is high time to unblock the €90-billion loan and move forward with the 20th sanctions package. The Foreign Affairs Council will take this up next week," Kallas wrote on X.

Budapest had blocked the funds for months, conditioning the removal of its veto on the restoration of Russian oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline — a demand Kyiv has complicated by blaming Russian strikes for disrupting the flow, while Hungary insists Ukraine bears responsibility for halting deliveries.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered a potential resolution last week, stating that pipeline repairs would be completed "this spring."

The geopolitical calculus shifted dramatically Sunday when Hungary's National Election Office reported that opposition leader Peter Magyar held a commanding lead over Orban in parliamentary elections. Orban subsequently acknowledged the result, stating: "We will serve our nation from the opposition" — ending over a decade of rule that repeatedly strained Budapest's ties with Brussels.

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