European Union summit will focus on Iran war and a loan to Ukraine
blocked by Hungary
[March 19, 2026]
By SAM McNEIL and LORNE COOK
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders are holding a summit in Brussels
on Thursday for talks on the Iran war, energy prices, migration and an
enormous loan for war-ravaged Ukraine being held up by Hungary.
Many of those leaders have deflected entreaties by U.S. President Donald
Trump to send military assets to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a key
waterway for the global flow of oil, gas and fertilizer. Rising energy
prices because of the war and fears in Europe of a new refugee crisis
have pushed leaders to make the Middle East one of the top priorities at
the summit.
The European Commission, the EU's executive branch, has floated the idea
of a “toolbox” of measures to lower energy prices for leaders to discuss
because no single policy will work across the myriad markets in the
27-nation bloc to blunt economic shocks from the war, according to a
senior European diplomat who wasn't authorized to be publicly named so
spoke on condition of anonymity.
The summit will also focus on a long-brewing standoff between Hungarian
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and most other EU nations.
The last EU summit was held in December at a Belgian castle, where the
leaders including Orbán agreed to a 90 billion-euro ($104 billion) loan
for Ukraine for help overcoming a budget shortfall in the country as it
grapples with a grinding war with Russia.
But a month later, Orbán backtracked after the Druzhba oil pipeline was
disabled in January after what Ukrainian officials said was a Russian
drone attack. The pro-Russia leader, who has held office in Hungary
since 2010, is running an aggressive media campaign villainizing both
Brussels and Kyiv as he seeks reelection next month.
“If there is no oil, there is no money,” Orbán said in a social media
post on Tuesday.
To get Ukraine the much-needed loan, EU leaders and diplomats will lobby
Orbán and Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico, whose government has
also taken pro-Russia stances.
On Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered
for the EU to pay to repair the Druzhba pipeline and the development of
alternative fuel lines for Hungary and Slovakia.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a
statement during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels,
Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that any obstruction to
the loan is “absolutely unfair” and that there is “no alternative”
for the embattled nation than those funds as it faces a severe
budget crisis because of the war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022.
“There may be alternatives in terms of financing mechanisms, but
there is simply no alternative to strengthening our army,” Zelenksyy
said on Wednesday.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told lawmakers in Berlin on
Wednesday that the EU must swiftly reach an agreement on the 20th
package of sanctions against Russia and the loan.
He said that he would “advocate for that emphatically” in Brussels
and that “we must not take into consideration a single country in
the European Union that is currently setting up this blockade in
Europe now for domestic political reasons and because of an election
campaign that is being conducted there.”
Merz said, in urging for more sanctions, that “the needs of the
moment call for us to increase the pressure on Moscow together – the
U.S. and the European partners together."
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Karel Janicek in Prague, Geir Moulson in Berlin, and Illia Novikov
in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
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