00:01The 27 leaders of the European Union are heading into a stormy summit on Thursday with Hungary's
00:08veto of a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine, the widening war in the Middle East and persistently
00:13high energy prices set to dominate the talks. From the moment leaders arrive, all eyes will
00:20be on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose decision to block the support loan for
00:25Ukraine at the very last stage of the legislative process has caused widespread outrage. Orban
00:31vetoed the loan in mid-February in response to the interruption of oil deliveries through
00:36the Druzhba pipeline, which he claims is deliberately being kept shut by Ukraine.
00:42Another major talking point on Thursday's agenda will be the widening war in the Middle East
00:47and the far-reaching consequences it has triggered worldwide. Europeans were caught off guard when
00:53U.S. President Donald Trump last week asked for their help to reopen the Strait of Hormuz,
00:58a vital passage for energy exports that Iran has closed off. The 27 leaders agree that energy
01:05prices, which have remained stubbornly high since the 2022 disruption, are a major problem but disagree
01:12on how to tackle them. As an immediate solution to offset high energy bills, Brussels recommends that
01:19governments either lower taxes or roll out subsidies, both of which affect revenues. The long-term
01:26recipe, however, is far less clear, as leaders remain fiercely divided on the need for structural
01:32reforms of the energy market.
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