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Meloni stuns EU leaders by saying she understands Orban’s veto on Ukraine — Politico

At the same time, the Italian prime minister supports the allocation of €90 billion to Kiev

BRUSSELS, March 20. /TASS/. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stunned EU leaders at the summit in Brussels by stating that she understands the veto of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on funding for Ukraine, despite herself supporting the allocation of €90 billion to Kiev, the European publication Politico reported, citing its sources.

"Meloni told her counterparts she understood the reasons the Hungarian leader had angered the bloc by going back on his word and refusing a €90 billion loan to Ukraine," the publication reported. It noted that Meloni described Orban’s stance as "normal" because "things change" and that if she "were in the same situation" she "would understand it."

According to Politico, five European sources informed it about this statement by Meloni, who "were granted anonymity to allow them to speak freely about the discussions, which were not held in public." Politico added that none of its sources "were in the room because it was almost exclusively only leaders present," who "briefed diplomats" later.

Politico also noted that representatives of the Italian government deny that Meloni made such a statement.

Bratislava and Budapest have blocked the EU summit’s decision to approve €90 billion in military funding for Kiev in 2026-2027 and the 20th package of sanctions against Russia. Prime Ministers Viktor Orban and Robert Fico demanded that Kiev first resume the transit of Russian oil to their countries via the Druzhba pipeline, which was interrupted on January 27. They did not accept the promise from Kiev and Brussels to resume transit within 1-1.5 months.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said upon his arrival at the EU summit that his country could deliver the same volume of non-Russian crude oil via its sea ports and JANAF, the Croatian operator of the Adriatic pipeline, which is what the European Commission insists upon. He nonetheless admitted that Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline cost Hungary and Slovakia approximately 30% less than alternative crude delivered via the JANAF Adriatic Pipeline. These figures correlate to the period before the ongoing war in the Middle East.

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