EU leaders failed to persuade Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to lift his veto on the loan for Kyiv, prompting sharp criticism from other leaders.
“A deal is a deal, we must keep our word. And nobody can blackmail the European Council”, European Council President Antonio Costa said after the summit.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said leaders had asked the European Commission to find a way forward and called Orban’s veto an unprecedented “act of serious disloyalty” that “leaves deep scars”.
The summit also focused on the Middle East crisis and fears it could trigger a new wave of migration to Europe. Von der Leyen said the bloc was much better prepared than during the 2015 migration crisis.
“So far we have not seen migratory movements toward Europe, but we must be prepared. We will not allow a repeat of 2015”, she said, citing stronger external borders, stronger agencies, the Migration and Asylum Pact and closer cooperation with neighboring countries.
Leaders also discussed rising energy prices and reform of the EU carbon market, ETS. Von der Leyen said Europe’s energy supplies were secure, but warned the bloc remained exposed to global price shocks.
“Just today, gas prices rose by 30% after attacks on Qatari gas infrastructure”, she said. To limit the impact, she outlined measures including more flexible state aid rules, legal proposals on network charges and infrastructure efficiency, and lower electricity tax rates.
She defended ETS as effective, saying it had reduced gas use, lowered dependence on imported fossil fuels and driven investment in low-emission energy, but acknowledged that the system needed changes that the Commission would prepare.
Von der Leyen also proposed what she called an “ETS investment booster” worth about EUR 30 billion, financed by 400 million ETS allowances, to support decarbonization projects.
Despite the dispute over Ukraine aid, von der Leyen insisted the loan would still be delivered, but EU institutions had not yet presented a fallback plan.
Orban, speaking after the summit, accused EU institutions of conspiring against his government ahead of Hungary’s parliamentary election next month and of backing the opposition in hopes of installing a pro-Ukrainian government that would approve money and military equipment for Kyiv.
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Source: Polish Radio, PAP