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EU Observer (17 March 2026)

Andrew RETTMAN

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has dragged top EU officials into his April re-election battle, even as the EU itself warned against “adversaries … in the system” on election integrity. 

EU institutions unveiled a deal with Ukraine on Tuesday (17 March) to fix a damaged Russian oil pipeline supplying Hungary, which Orbán has put front and centre in his campaign, claiming Kyiv had blocked it to hurt him, leading to him vetoing €90bn of EU aid to Ukraine, and causing a geopolitical melodrama ahead of the Hungarian vote on 12 April.   

A European Commission expert was to visit the Druzhba pipe and any repairs would be paid from the EU budget, said commission president Ursula von der Leyen, EU Council president António Costa, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in letters posted online.

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