EU leaders convened in Brussels for a crisis summit, overtaking planned competitiveness talks. The US-Israel war on Iran has spiked global energy prices and disrupted markets - forcing urgent discussion on economic fallout and Strait of Hormuz navigation.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán blocked a €90 billion EU loan for Ukraine at the final legislative stage - citing halted oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline. Kyiv says the pipeline was damaged in a Russian drone strike; Zelenskyy insists it remain closed to deny revenue to Putin.
Orbán ties the veto to Hungary’s April 12 election, accusing Kyiv and Brussels of aiding opposition leader Péter Magyar. Diplomats call the move a dangerous precedent.
Ukraine now faces a funding cliff: Brussels says Kyiv can stay solvent only until early May. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to brief leaders remotely tomorrow.
A separate rift emerged over the EU’s Emissions Trading System, with ten nations demanding reform amid soaring energy costs - while eight defend the current framework as essential to energy resilience.