Hungary and Slovakia Block New EU Sanctions against Russia

The European Union failed to approve a fresh round of sanctions against Russia as Hungary and Slovakia halted the measures, laying bare divisions within the bloc as the war in Ukraine enters its fifth year. 

Efforts by EU foreign ministers to get the 20th package of sanctions over the line at a meeting in Brussels on Monday were blocked by the two member states, who accuse Ukraine of disrupting oil deliveries from Russia. The dispute is also upending a EUR 90 billion ($106 billion) loan to Ukraine.

“This is a setback and a message we didn’t want to send today,” the bloc’s top foreign policy official, Kaja Kallas, told reporters after the meeting. Noting that “we have seen this scenario already before,” she said negotiations to advance the packages were continuing. 

It was a blow to EU ambitions to unite over assistance to Ukraine four years after the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion. Slovakia went further in its opposition to new sanctions on Moscow, saying the measures could undermine US-led peace efforts. 

Russia’s relentless attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure hit the Druzhba pipeline carrying Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia in late January. The two EU members accuse Ukraine of dragging its feet with repairs, while Kyiv says it needs more time to complete the work. Budapest and Bratislava haven’t called out Moscow for causing the damage. 

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said his government will stop providing emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine – and is weighing further steps, including a review of Kyiv’s ambitions to join the EU.

“As of today, if the Ukrainian side turns to Slovakia for assistance in stabilizing its energy grid, such assistance will not be provided,” Fico said in emailed statement. 

Hungary’s announcement over the weekend that it planned to set up a roadblock for the Ukrainian financing package agreed to in December already drew a round of rebukes from EU members. 

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he was “astonished” at Hungary’s stance, while Lithuania’s top diplomat said Budapest’s role in holding up EU measures in support of Ukraine raised questions about its membership in the bloc.

“In the long term, we should address whether we really need 27” members, Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told reporters in Brussels ahead of the meeting, adding that Hungary must end its “manipulations” and that the announcement was “very bad news.”

In a letter to European Council President Antonio Costa dated Feb. 23, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called the stalled shipments “an unprovoked act of hostility that undermines the energy security of Hungary.” Orban, who has a track record of standing down threats against EU policy, said he’d block the loan until oil starts flowing again, according to the letter seen by Bloomberg News. 

Costa responded, urging Orban him to stick by the agreement reached by EU leaders on the loan – and saying he would discuss the Druzhba pipeline with Zelenskiy.

Orban’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, drove home the position in Brussels as he vowed he would block the measures.

“We’re going to stand firm on this,” Szijjarto said ahead of the meeting. “No one can mess with Hungary, no one can threaten our energy security.”

The Hungarian premier has made his opposition to Ukrainian aid the centerpiece of his campaign ahead of the April 12 parliamentary election. His ruling Fidesz party is trailing a pro-EU opposition alliance, raising the prospect that Orban could be unseated after 16 years in power.

Kallas noted the political angle ahead of the election. “I find it very hard that it would bring you any bonus points in the election, but I don’t know the Hungarian political climate,” she said. 

The Hungarian leader has cultivated close ties with US President Donald Trump, who last week gave his “complete and total” endorsement for Orban in the election. Landlocked Hungary was granted a waiver from US sanctions on Russian oil imports because of Orban’s relationship with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Budapest last week. 

While Budapest doesn’t have to underwrite the EU loan for Kyiv after receiving an exemption in December, it still has leverage over the process as the loan requires unanimous agreement to amend the bloc’s budget.

Polish Foreign Minister Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said he expected more solidarity from Hungary for Ukraine.

“Hungarians used to understand what it’s like – Budapest was invaded, actually twice,” Sikorski said. “The ruling party managed to create a climate of hostility toward the victim of aggression and now is trying to exploit that in the general election. It’s quite shocking.”