‘Orbán fatigue’ as EU leaders gather to push for €50bn Ukraine package – Europe live | European Union

Orbán- Kristersson meeting expected today

Miranda Bryant

Ulf Kristersson, the Swedish prime minister, is due to meet his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orbán, in Brussels today for the first time since their public exchange over his country’s drawn out delay to ratifying Sweden’s Nato membership.

Kristersson, who flew to Brussels last night after spending the day in Sweden with French president Emmanuel Macron, who was on a state visit, said yesterday that they “had not nailed down a specific time” to meet at the European Council, but added: “I am guaranteed to speak with him.”

After Turkey gave its long-awaited green light to Sweden’s Nato membership last week, leaving Hungary the single remaining country to ratify, Orban invited Kristersson for negotiations on the subject, leaving Hungary’s allies “exasperated” by his foot-dragging.

Varadkar says Mercosur deal should not go ahead

Lisa O’Carroll

Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar has said the planned Mercosur trade deals with the south American countries should not go ahead.

He said he agrees with France’s Emmanuel Macron, who said in Sweden the deal, which has been years in the making, should not be signed off.

“We need clarity on Mercosur, we ask that the deal should not be signed in its current shape,” Macron said on a visit on Wednesday to Sweden, putting his demand on the record.

Varadkar said on Thursday:

I also would echo President Macron comments in relation to Mercosur, that this trade agreement cannot be ratified in its current form, that we can’t have a situation whereby we impose environmental regulations on farmers that allow imports from countries that don’t have those same regulations.

Farmers have pelted the Brussels-Luxembourg train station, near the European Parliament, with eggs while smoke hangs over Luxembourg Square in front of the buildings after waste was set on fire.

Varadkar said:

Many protests that are occurring. And what quite a number of heads of government here, who understand the pressures that our farmers are under, whether it’s increased energy costs of fertiliser costs and new environmental regulations, it is layer on layer for farmers.

“I think the priority for us should be implementing existing rules and regulations and not imposing new additional ones on farmers over the next couple of years.”

Meanwhile in Italy

In Italy, where hundreds of tractors blocked traffic on a motorway near Milan on Wednesday, deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini blamed European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for the protests.

“The Von der Leyen commission is disastrous in relation to labour and rights,” Salvini, who leads the far-right League party, told reporters in Brussels, adding that most of the issues “are with the crazy, pseudo-green European policies that regard farmers, fishers, truck drivers…it is clear that this Europe has put ideology ahead of labour.”

Italian farmers have also protested in Tuscany, Lazio, Piedmont and Sardinia in recent days.

Lisa O’Carroll

Josep Borrell has said it is vital that the funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) continues while the investigation into allegations that a number of staff were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks are ongoing.

He said the investigation “had to be done” but there should be no “collective punishment” of the wider Palestinian population funded through the UNRWA schemes.

“You cut funding to UNRWA you are punishing the whole Palestinian people, there is not an alternative to UNRWA as the UN has clearly said.

“Do you want to keep these people alive, no collective punishment fo the Palestinian people, no cutting funds to UNRWA.

“An investigation of course, but there are hundreds of thousands of people being supported by UNRWA. You cannot stop funding that is keeping these people alive.”

Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, said “there is only one possible outcome” at today’s summit: “that the 50 billion euro package gets approved one way or another.”

He added:

There must be no doubt about that. This is the only way to ensure that Ukraine is properly equipped, in both military and financial terms, to continue resisting Russian aggression.

I sincerely hope that today all 27 member states can reach this decision jointly. Ukraine must get this money swiftly and on a structural basis.

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said this morning that he believes “now is the time to reach a decision” on EU funding for Ukraine, Reuters reported.

He added:

I will work very hard to come to an agreement of all 27.

Borrell calls for ‘urgency’ on Ukraine support

Lisa O’Carroll

The EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, has said he wants to see a greater “sense of urgency” at today’s summit in relation to military support for Ukraine.

“I want to stress the war of Russia against Ukraine is the biggest threat to European security … We can and we should do more to support Ukraine.

“This is the biggest threat to European security, that is why if we don’t do it, we will pay a higher price.

“My proposal is to increase the military support to Ukraine inside the European Peace Facility.

“I will urge them [the leaders] to reach an agreement as soon as possible because there is no more time.

He added:

“We have in the next month to increase our military support to Ukraine as we have been doing by increasing the numbers of ammunition, but it is still not enough.

“More has to be done. I don’t think we have the sense of urgency when we deal with that. This is going to be an intense discussion.”

As Viktor Orbán holds talks with Europe’s most influential leaders, he took to social media to post a photo with the sarcastic description: “casual morning conversation.”

“Ukraine is our top priority,” the European parliament president, Roberta Metsola, told reporters this morning.

She added:

We need an agreement today. And it should be at 27. This will impact our legitimacy, our credibility and our predictability, because Ukraine’s security is Europe’s security.

We also need to top up badly-needed funds that our citizens depend on: on health, on energy, on research.

Metsola also said:

To the farmers that are outside: we see you and we hear you. And if you want your voice to be heard, make it heard also in June, when you vote for the European parliament elections.

She also noted that the European parliament had called for a “permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the return of all hostages – this is the only way to ensure lasting peace and stability in the region.”

Lisa O’Carroll

Asked what he would be saying to Viktor Orbán at the summit, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk was brief:

“Nothing nice,” he said.

“We need to find a solution as quick as possible,” Latvia’s prime minister, Evika Siliņa, said when arriving at the summit, adding that “the best is 27.”

She added:

I understand that while we are debating, there are also other matters, [which] are important to European citizens. Therefore we need to move forward.

We see farmers today on the streets of Brussels. And there are also other matters in European budget, what need to be solved by common decisions, such as border security, migration and farmers.

So I believe we have to do everything possible to find a solution today and to move forward also to other matters.

Irish leader says no ‘cliff edge’ on Ukraine funding but ‘very frustrated’

Lisa O’Carroll

Whatever happens today there will be no “cliff edge” for funding in Ukraine, Ireland’s taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

But he warned the only person who would benefit from a lack of agreement today on the €50bn funding for Ukraine would be “Putin”.

“I think it would be another good reason to make sure that we have agreement here.

“I think we have to leave here with the results. I don’t think we can come back here in a few weeks time or a few months time.”

On whether Hungary should remain in the EU if it continues to “blackmail”, in the words of senior EU officials and fellow leaders, he said:

I think Hungary should absolutely stay in the EU countries a European country. And I think their place is in the European Union. There will be governments from time to time and different member states that don’t always act in accordance with European values, but I think we need to think about Hungarian people and what is best for them.

He said he was “very frustrated” by Hungary’s belligerence. “And I think all other heads of governments are too” as the EU system is about “making compromises” on issues that are for “the greater good”.

Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, told reporters that there is “Orbán fatigue.”

Arriving at the summit, the veteran politician said:

I can’t understand, I can’t accept this very strange and very egoistic game of Viktor Orbán. And there is no room for compromise on our principles like rule of law, and for sure there is no room for compromise on Ukraine question.

He added:

My instinct is that we will find some strong arguments to convince at the end of the day also Viktor.