Closing summary
… and so on that note, it’s a wrap for today!
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy told EU leaders that “Ukraine has delivered on what was requested by the European Union” to unblock the critical €90bn loan for Kyiv (17:24, 18:08).
He confirmed the Druzhba pipeline transporting oil to Hungary and Slovakia was fixed and could become operational after months of disruption caused by a Russian airstrike earlier this year (16:32) – but stopped short of confirming that the oil was actually flowing.
The much-awaited news prompted the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, to say “a positive decision” on the €90bn loan could be reached in the next 24 hours (17:26).
There has been no public comment from Hungary so far, the main country blocking the disbursement of the loan, but Kallas said that last week’s parliamentary election showed “a new momentum” to revisit “long-blocked decisions” (17:26, 17:28).
The issue is expected to come up during tomorrow’s meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels, who could sign off the loan after months of delays, but there are some outstanding questions about the political sequence of the decision that is needed to progress the loan (12:39, 16:35).
In other news,
EU foreign ministers did not decide to accept Spain, Ireland and Slovenia’s request to suspend all of parts of the bloc’s association agreement with Israel, despite growing frustration with its actions in the Middle East (16:26).
Elsewhere,
The EU’s highest court has found Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ law to be discriminatory, stigmatising and in breach of basic democratic values, setting up an early test for the incoming prime minister Péter Magyar’s government when it takes power next month.
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Updated
Looks like the finish line for this four-month saga on the €90bn loan could be in sight.
Let’s see how it all ends, as we will no doubt hear from the Hungarian and Slovak governments sooner rather than later if a deal is to be agreed tomorrow.
