Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed understanding of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's position on Ukraine during a closed-door meeting of the European summit on Thursday, Politico reports, citing European diplomats.
Meloni told her colleagues that she understood the reasons why the Hungarian leader angered the bloc by going back on his word and denying Ukraine a EUR 90 billion loan after approving it in December, according to diplomats with knowledge of the confidential discussions.
During the meeting, Meloni emphasized that she personally still supports the immediate disbursement of the loan to Ukraine, but noted that she understands the position of Orbán, who is due to run in the elections next month.
One of the five diplomats quoted Meloni as saying that Orbán's position is "normal" because "the situation is changing" and that "if I were in the same situation, I would understand it."
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Meloni's office in Rome denied this: "The statement attributed to the prime minister is completely unfounded."
The publication's sources are five diplomats from four different European countries - no Italian representatives among them. All of the diplomats were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely about discussions that were not held in public. None of them were in the room, as it was almost exclusively attended by leaders. These leaders briefed the diplomats.
The publication notes that Meloni is a strong supporter of Ukraine, and also maintains friendly relations with both Orbán and US President Donald Trump, who has at times shown indecision in his support for Kyiv. Earlier, the prime minister privately told her EU colleagues that it was a bad idea to fight US President Donald Trump.
She also publicly supported Orbán during his election campaign. Meloni and Orbán are both right-wing politicians, but the Italian leader has generally followed the EU's mainstream line, while the Hungarian government is considered an obstructionist.
Diplomats told the newspaper that most other EU leaders reacted with outrage when it became clear that Orbán had no intention of giving in on the loan. European Council President António Costa called the decision "unacceptable" and an unprecedented violation of the "red line" in behavior.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, at the summit in Brussels on Thursday, EU heads of state planned to force the Hungarian Prime Minister to lift his veto on the critical loan. This financial aid package was agreed last year in December, but last month Orbán blocked its implementation.
Earlier, Orbán said that he would not compromise with Ukraine and would end the Ukrainian blockade of the Druzhba oil pipeline by force.
The European Union has offered to finance the repair of the Druzhba pipeline after the russian attacks, and the resumption of oil transit could take about a month and a half. According to Zelenskyy, the infrastructure damage was the result of russian attacks. The key problem was the shutdown of the Brody pumping station, without which it is impossible to maintain the necessary pressure in the system.
A special mission of the European Union has arrived in Ukraine to assess the technical condition of the Druzhba oil pipeline. Foreign experts are to help restore the transit infrastructure that supplies oil to Hungary and Slovakia.
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