EU eyes Ukraine loan, Israeli settler sanctions, after Hungarian election

Ouster of EU ‘spoiler-in-chief’ Viktor Orban unlocks key foreign policy decisions in the 27-member bloc.European Union officials have said they expect progress this week on key dossiers regarding Ukraine and Israel after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose government had blocked the initiatives, was voted out of office.Orban’s forthcoming departure opens the way for the bloc to release a 90-billion-euro ($106bn) loan to Ukraine and levy sanctions on violent Israeli settlers, officials said on Monday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3PM-in-waiting Peter Magyar lays out vision for Hungary after ousting Orbanlist 2 of 3Orban was defeated in Hungary, but Orbanism lives onlist 3 of 3Is Magyar’s election win the end of the EU’s troubles with Hungary?end of listThe loan to Ukraine, desperately needed by Kyiv to maintain its defence against Russia’s invasion, should be agreed on at a meeting on Wednesday, according to Cyprus, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency.“The last element needed to allow for the disbursement of the 90-billion-euro loan for Ukraine” will be on the agenda, said a spokesperson cited by the AFP news agency, in an apparent reference to the change of government in Hungary.A meeting of diplomats on Wednesday will seek consensus on the necessary amendment to the bloc’s budget before a written procedure is launched for final adoption of the loan. The process is expected to move quickly as Hungary’s new leader, Peter Magyar, prepares to take power.Orban, widely known as the EU’s main spoiler, had held up the money as leverage in a feud with Kyiv over the suspension of Russian oil supplies over Ukrainian territory through the Druzhba pipeline. Ukraine has said the pipeline was shut due to a Russian attack.But Orban’s departure appears to have opened up opportunities on all sides.Magyar has said that he is ready to work constructively with the EU. He called on Monday for the reopening of Druzhba.