Zelenskyy rejects “symbolic” EU membership

Good morning from Brussels.

EU leaders are meeting for a second day of an informal summit in Cyprus today, after making history on Thursday with the adoption of a €90 billion loan for Ukraine.

Hungary’s election outcome last week helped clear the path for the move, lifting Budapest’s veto and giving Kyiv additional resources to continue resisting Russian forces.

Outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, long one of the EU’s main disruptors, did not travel to Cyprus, leaving heads of state and government also celebrating a new package of sanctions against Russia adopted earlier in the day.

That said, Ukraine’s membership was brought to the table. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who attended the meeting in person on Thursday night, pushed to open accession “clusters” for Ukraine, arguing Kyiv met the necessary conditions. Orbán’s exit has removed a key obstacle.

“Clusters” refer to groupings of negotiation chapters required in the accession process for any new EU member.

After leaks earlier this week that France and Germany had pitched the idea of a “symbolic” pre-accession, Zelenskyy told reporters on WhatsApp Thursday: “Ukraine does not need symbolic membership in the EU. Ukraine is defending itself and is definitely defending Europe. And it is not defending Europe symbolically – people are really dying.” You can read Sasha Vakulina‘s story here.

He added after meeting the leaders that the only thing Ukraine was asking was to speed up the “full” membership “with a clear start date.”

On the EU’s side, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal told Europe Today that he cannot see any way other than “Ukraine’s future is in Europe,” adding: “The question is only when, not if.” To watch the full interview, it’s here.

Leaders also turned to the Middle East, as the Iran conflict is spreading across the region, including the recent killing of two French soldiers in Lebanon.

Attention focused in particular on the EU’s Article 42.7 mutual defence clause. The issue gained prominence after a Shahed drone struck a British military base in Cyprus at the start of the conflict, with Nicosia among the few EU countries not covered by NATO’s Article 5.

But discussion of the clause remains politically sensitive, as leaders seek to avoid signalling to Washington that Europe no longer relies on NATO protection.

The Iran war is also feeding into energy markets, with the Strait of Hormuz and rising energy prices high on the agenda. Leaders reviewed options presented by the European Commission on Wednesday to mitigate the impact of the blockade, but took no immediate decisions given the informal nature of the meeting.

The Iran war will return today, with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria as well as Kuwaiti H.E. Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), invited to a broader session.

Another thorny issue on the agenda is the EU’s seven-year budget. Talks will focus on the size of the budget and EU’s own resources, with the traditional “frugal” group — Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden — joined by other net contributors including Germany, Finland, France, Belgium and Ireland, all aiming to keep national contributions under control.

The goal is to reach an agreement by end-2026, a challenging timeline, likely to involve long nights of negotiations. But the EU27 are no strangers to that.

EU approves €90 billion loan for Ukraine after Hungary lifts controversial veto

The European Union signed off on Thursday on a €90 billion loan for Ukraine after Hungary dropped its veto, ending a tense standoff in which Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in his final months in office, pushed the bloc’s internal rules to their limits.

The funding will help sustain Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s invasion.

The breakthrough came less than two weeks after Orbán’s election defeat and two days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Druzhba pipeline — which supplies low-cost Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia — had been repaired and was ready to resume operations.

The disruption in Druzhba oil flows had been central to Orbán’s decision to block the loan in February. A senior diplomat described the veto as a “turning point” in relations between Brussels and Budapest.

Cyprus, which holds the EU Council’s rotating presidency, had moved swiftly to seize the opening created by the Hungarian vote, putting the loan on the agenda of an ambassadors’ meeting even before Zelenskyy confirmed the pipeline’s repair.

“While Russia doubles down on its aggression, we are doubling down on our support to the brave Ukrainian nation enabling Ukraine to defend itself and putting pressure on Russia’s war economy,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Jorge‘s full story is here.

EU agrees fresh sanctions on Russia – Maritime services ban on hold

On Thursday, the European Union aslo agreed on a fresh package of sanctions against Russia after Hungary and Slovakia dropped their vetoes, following the dispute with Ukraine over the Druzhba oil pipeline, which has since been repaired.

However a full ban on maritime services for Russian oil tankers remains on hold pending G7 agreement, considerably reducing the economic impact of the EU’s latest measures.

Greece and Malta had raised objections, the maritime states fearing that implementing the full ban without G7 support would damage their economies and strengthen Russia’s “shadow fleet” — ageing vessels used by Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions.

The ban would prohibit EU companies from providing any services — including insurance, shipping, or port access — to vessels transporting Russian crude oil.

The 20th sanctions package targets 46 vessels linked to the “shadow fleet”, regional banks and crypto platforms, while also restricting imports of metals, chemicals and critical minerals worth around €570 million.

You can read Jorge‘s full story here.

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