Overview
- EU foreign ministers, meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday, said they expect decisions within days on the loan, a new Russia sanctions package, and the formal opening of Ukraine’s accession negotiation clusters.
- EU ambassadors in Coreper II, the committee of member states’ envoys, plan to take up the required change to the EU’s long-term budget on April 22, a procedural step needed to activate the €90 billion facility.
- The European Commission signaled rapid disbursement if oil flows resume through the Druzhba pipeline after testing, with several officials saying a first payment could reach Ukraine by mid-May.
- Ukraine’s foreign minister urged the Council to lift the block this week and pressed for swift adoption of the 20th EU sanctions package to squeeze Russia’s war financing.
- The April 12 election in Hungary changed the political calculus, with incoming leader Peter Magyar indicating he would lift Viktor Orbán’s veto on the loan.