Overview
- Slovakia said Thursday it will block the EU’s 20th sanctions package unless it gets verifiable guarantees of oil via the Druzhba pipeline, while confirming it will not oppose the €90 billion loan for Ukraine.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday in Berlin the damaged line will be repaired enough to operate by the end of April.
- Hungary’s election winner Peter Magyar said he expects Viktor Orbán to lift his procedural veto on the EU loan once Druzhba deliveries resume.
- Hungarian oil firm MOL reported this week that crude supplies have continued via the Adriatic route even with Druzhba shut, and said its Danube Refinery is running below capacity after an October fire.
- The European Commission expects the first tranche of the €90 billion loan to be paid in the second quarter of 2026, a schedule that depends on national holdouts easing.