BRUSSELS, March 19 (Reuters) - European Union leaders piled pressure on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday to lift his blockade on a vital 90-billion-euro ($103 billion) EU loan to Ukraine to keep up its fight against Russia's invasion.
EU leaders agreed to the loan in December but Orban, who has cordial ties with Russia and has clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, blocked its implementation last month, citing a dispute over a war-damaged pipeline.
Orban's stance has angered other EU leaders as Kyiv could run short of money in weeks if it does not receive new funding and his U-turn has called into question the credibility of the European Council, the EU's highest decision-making body.
DUTCH PM SAYS ORBAN'S VETO IS 'UNACCEPTABLE'
"We have to be clear: Hungary's veto is unacceptable, the extra support for Ukraine has to be delivered as quickly as possible," Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten said as he arrived at an EU summit in Brussels.
"We should not discuss any 'plan B', because then we would give in to Orban's blackmail, and that is the last thing we should do."
Several leaders arriving at the summit said Orban, who faces a difficult election next month, had to stick to the December deal and stop blocking the loan.
"He’s using Ukraine as a weapon in his election campaign, and it's not good," Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said, accusing Orban of betraying fellow EU leaders.
At the summit, leaders of the 27-nation bloc are expected to point to an agreement by Zelenskiy this week to fix the Druzhba pipeline with EU technical help and funding, to try to convince Orban to drop his opposition to the loan, diplomats say.
The pipeline carried Russian oil through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia but was damaged by a Russian attack in January, officials say. Ukraine says it will take some time to repair. Hungary says it is already ready to operate.
ORBAN STANDS HIS GROUND
Orban, a nationalist ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, has often been a thorn in the side of mainstream EU politicians but had not previously gone back on a deal agreed among EU leaders, diplomats say.
Many EU officials are particularly exasperated by Orban's blockade as he secured an opt-out from paying for the costs of the loan, along with the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Orban has shown no sign of backing down.
"We are waiting for the oil, the rest is fairytales," he said as he arrived at the EU summit.
In comments to reporters, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever raised the prospect that the EU may have to wait until after Hungary's April 12 election to implement the loan.
($1 = 0.8726 euros)
(Additional reporting by Lili Bayer, Miranda Murray, Essi Lehto, Gianluca Lo Nostro, Gergely Szakacs, Andreas Rinke; Writing by Andrew Gray and Ingrid Melander; Editing by Stephen Coates and Timothy Heritage)
