German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said a European Union €90 billion (S$134.8 billion) loan for Ukraine must be disbursed rapidly after an electoral defeat for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban eliminated a major roadblock to the funding.
Mr Merz spoke after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the two leaders bolstering cooperation on air defense and drone production. The chancellor reinforced his support for Ukraine’s EU accession, rejecting any “second class” membership – though the process is likely to take a long time.
“The funds for military support must be disbursed quickly, now,” Mr Merz told reporters in Berlin on April 14. “Ukraine needs them urgently.”
The EU is set to finalise the loan package, which leaders, including Mr Orban, approved in December 2025. The outgoing Hungarian leader later reversed course as he blamed a blocked oil pipeline in Ukraine, which had been damaged by a Russian drone strike.
Approval of the funding requires unanimity among the 27 member states.
Hungary’s next leader, Mr Peter Magyar, said he won’t stand in the way of the loan package.
Mr Zelensky said repairs to the Druzhba pipeline, which is responsible for transporting Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, will be largely complete by the end of April, with the pipeline ready to operate.
“And we really believe that this will coincide with other obligations of the EU countries, primarily Hungary, which blocked important decisions for us,” Mr Zelensky said in Berlin.
Cyprus, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU and sets many policy priorities, will bring up the loan funding for Ukraine at a meeting of the bloc’s ambassadors as soon as possible, a Cypriot official said this week. BLOOMBERG
