Probably not since Margaret Thatcher was in office have EU leaders been so outraged with one of their peers as they were last week when Victor Orbán again blocked a critical €90 billion loan to fund Ukraine’s war effort. Admittedly, the language wasn’t quite as colorful as sometimes used about Britain’s Iron Lady. An exasperated Jacques Chirac once was caught on a mic complaining about Thatcher: “What does she want from me, this housewife? My balls on a plate?” Nonetheless, there was no disguising the depth of anger at last week’s European Council meeting, with Orbán the villain of the piece as the Hungarian leader stubbornly declined once again to approve the critical financial lifeline for Ukraine. He’d only do so, he said, when Russian oil flows freely to Hungary through the Druzhba pipeline, damaged in a Russian air attack. Orbán accuses Kyiv of stalling repairs to it; Ukraine’s leader denies this. “I have never heard such hard-hitting criticism at an EU summit of anyone, ever,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters later. Maddened though they may be with Orbán, some of his most fervent European critics worry that EU leaders fell into a trap he carefully baited and perfectly timed for the final stretch of the closely fought Hungarian parliamentary elections. They worry EU leaders inadvertently boosted his electoral chances by ganging up on him and allowing him to portray himself back at home as the only man capable of protecting Hungarian interests, a favorite trope of his.  “The EU should have waited for the result of the Hungarian election,” French MEP Chloé Ridel told POLITICO. “Orbán is not doing will in the opinion polls. And obviously he’s doing his best to fight until the end, and they should have avoided the confrontation about the Ukrainian loan, delayed the clash and not let him obtain what he clearly wanted,” she added.  As co-chair of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Anti-Corruption, Ridel has been an impassioned critic of Orbán and she argues that if he does pull off another election win next month, then the EU should withhold all EU funds for Hungary to punish it for democratic backsliding and explore the nuclear option of stripping an Orbán-led Hungary of its EU voting rights.  But best to keep quiet for now with the long-serving Hungarian leader’s political dominance in question for the first time in a decade-and-a-half with his Fidesz party trailing rival Péter Magyar’s Tisza party in the opinion polls, she believes. Why play into Orbán’s election script and give him the opportunity to fire up his electoral base and engineer a rally-around-the-flag and possibly persuade swing voters to cast their ballots for Fidesz? ORBÁN’S ELECTION PLAYBOOK Certainly, as he left Brussels after the summit on Friday morning, Orbán didn’t seem crestfallen or rattled by the drubbing. Tellingly he flashed several smiles as he told reporters that all the EU leaders could do was to “make a few threats and then realize that it would not work.” He added: “There was no argument from them against which we did not have a stronger argument. They did not say nice things, but they could not bring up anything that Hungary could be morally, legally, or politically blamed for.”  All of this is very much out of Orbán’s election playbook, according to Michael Ignatieff, the former Canadian politician. He has observed Hungarian politics up close as professor of history at the Central European University, formerly based in Budapest, until it was forced out by Orbán, and is now headquartered in Vienna. “There’s always a risk you fall into a trap with Orbán. He’s fighting for his political life,” Ignatieff told POLITICO. But he doesn’t fault EU leaders for the stance they took last week. “I’m in no position to second-guess the Commission or the Council or anybody. The point to remember is that Orbán has run against Brussels Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for 16 years and cashed the checks on Saturday and Sunday. That’s the play, right? I don’t think there’s anything the EU can do one way or the other here. If it plays soft, he’ll still play hard,” he added. Orbán’s four previous election campaigns were all built around the idea of Hungary facing a dark and dangerous external threat, portraying himself as the man of destiny — the only one able to protect the beleaguered country surrounded by conniving enemies. Those foes have been variously faceless financial masters of the universe, international institutions, transnational left-wing elites and, of course, always the European Union. “We know all too well the nature of the uninvited helping comrades, and we recognize them even when instead of uniforms with epaulettes, they don well-tailored suits,” Orbán said once, when his controversial changes to Hungary’s constitution were challenged by the EU.  While MAGA heavyweights have not been shy in recent weeks to mobilize to shore up their most loyal European ideological ally — this week Reuters reported that U.S. Vice President JD Vance might be dispatched to Budapest in a bid to give Orbán an electoral lift. But EU leaders had until last week been more circumspect and careful to try to stay above the electoral fray to avoid being accused of election meddling. ‘PYRRHIC VICTORY’ While disputing that Orbán in any way lured EU leaders into a trap, Fidesz MEP András László conceded the clash might well help the Hungarian leader secure a fifth straight term as prime minister. “Mr. Orbán actually kept his word. Isn’t that what every citizen wants from politicians?” And with a touch of sophistry, he told POLITICO: “It was not the reaction of EU partners which could help us in this election, it’s the fact that Mr. Orbán actually stood his ground and did not give in to the pressure.” László blames Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the clash, arguing that the Ukrainian president is purposefully not repairing the oil pipeline “for political reasons, to meddle in the elections, create chaos, create fear in the hope that Hungarians will turn against Orbán.” Since the summer, Orbán has gone out his way, of course, to cast Magyar as a puppet of the EU and even a Ukrainian agent of influence who wants to push Hungary into war. The portrayal of Magyar, an MEP, as an instrument of Brussels is false. Tisza MEPs voted in the European Parliament against the €90 billion loan to Ukraine and Magyar is also critical of fast-tracking Kyiv’s application for EU membership. Nevertheless, Orbán persists in his characterization of Magyar as Brussels’ guy. “In line with Brussels and Kyiv, instead of a national government, they [Tisza] want to bring a pro-Ukrainian government to power in Hungary. That is why they are not standing up for the interests of Hungarian people and Hungary,” Orbán argued in a Facebook post last week. And with his domination of Hungary’s traditional media, his bundling together of the EU, Magyar and Ukraine as one collective enemy might well be cutting through — at least in the rural districts Orbán needs to hold if he’s to defy his critics and pull off another victory.  But if he does so off the back of last week’s clash with other EU leaders, it will be a “pyrrhic victory for him,” said Péter Krekó, director of the Political Capital Institute, a Budapest-based think tank and political consultancy. “Orbán can use it in the campaign to demonstrate his fight against Brussels domestically, but if he stays in power the Council will play hardball. It is bad for the EU now, but it will be much worse for Hungary in the middle to long run — if Orbán stays in power,” Krekó told POLITICO.

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music Wir befinden uns in einem neuen Kalten Krieg, und er ist deutlich ungemütlicher als der letzte. Anstatt klarer Blockkonfrontation erleben wir ein multipolares Chaos, in dem die zivile Infrastruktur und die Wirtschaft längst zum Ziel geworden sind. Im Panel-Gespräch auf einer Sicherheitstagung in Berlin spricht der Präsident des Bundesverfassungsschutzes, Sinan Selen, mit Gordon Repinski über Russlands Nadelstiche aus der „hybriden Toolbox“ und neue Bedrohungen aus Richtung Iran. Wie gut sind das Land und die Geheimdienste gegen diese teils unsichtbaren Feinde aufgestellt? Im 200-Sekunden-Interview dazu: der stellvertretende Vorsitzende des Parlamentarischen Kontrollgremiums, Konstantin von Notz (Grüne). Nach dem EU-Gipfel sortiert Hans von der Burchard die Ergebnisse. Von der Ukraine-Hilfe über das Rüstungsprojekt FCAS bis hin zur europäischen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit gibt er ein Update aus dem politischen Herzen Europas. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es jeden Morgen ab 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team liefern Politik zum Hören – kompakt, international, hintergründig. Für alle Hauptstadt-Profis: Der Berlin Playbook-Newsletter bietet jeden Morgen die wichtigsten Themen und Einordnungen. ⁠Jetzt kostenlos abonnieren.⁠ Mehr von Host und POLITICO Executive Editor Gordon Repinski: Instagram: ⁠@gordon.repinski⁠ | X: ⁠@GordonRepinski⁠. POLITICO Deutschland – ein Angebot der Axel Springer Deutschland GmbH Axel-Springer-Straße 65, 10888 Berlin Tel: +49 (30) 2591 0 ⁠information@axelspringer.de⁠ Sitz: Amtsgericht Berlin-Charlottenburg, HRB 196159 B USt-IdNr: DE 214 852 390 Geschäftsführer: Carolin Hulshoff Pol, Mathias Sanchez Luna

BRUSSELS — EU leaders were supposed to spend Thursday mapping out how to boost Europe’s economy. Instead, they were left scrambling to deal with two wars, a deepening transatlantic rift and a standoff over Ukraine. Twelve hours of talks, a few showdowns and many, many coffees later, here’s POLITICO’s rapid round-up of what we learned at the European Council. 1) Viktor Orbán’s not a man for moving … The most pressing question ahead of this summit was whether Hungary’s prime minister could be convinced to drop his veto to the EU’s €90 billion loan for Ukraine. He wasn’t. The European Commission had attempted to appease Orbán in the days running up to the summit by sending a mission of experts to Ukraine to inspect the damaged Druzhba pipeline, which supplies Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia. Orbán has argued that Ukraine is deliberately not addressing the issue, and tied that to his blocking of the cash. Asked whether he saw any chance for progress on the loan going into the summit, Orbán’s response was simple: “No.” Twelve hours later, that answer was much the same. 2) … But he does like to stretch his legs. In one of the most striking images to have come out of Thursday’s summit, the Hungarian prime minister stands on the sidelines of the outer circle of the room while the rest of the leaders are in their usual spots listening to a virtual address from Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (on screen) speaks to EU leaders via video at the European Council summit in Brussels, March 19, 2026. | Pool photo by Geert Vanden Wijngaert/OL / AFP via Getty Images The relationship between the two has descended into outright acrimony after the Hungarian leader refused to back the EU loan and the Ukrainian leader made veiled threats — which even drew the (rare) rebuke of the Commission. Faced with Zelenskyy’s address, the Hungarian decided to vote with his feet. 3) The new kid on the block is happy to be a part of this European family, dysfunctional as it may be. This was the first leaders’ summit for Rob Jetten, the Netherland’s newly-installed prime minister. Ahead of the meeting, he said he was “very much looking forward to being part of this family.” His verdict after the talks? That leaders differ greatly in their speaking style, with some quite efficient while others take longer to get to the point — but he welcomed the jokes of Belgian’s Bart De Wever, “especially when the meeting has been going on for hours.” 5) Though not everyone was so charitable. Broadly speaking, Orbán digging in his heels did not go down well. Sweden’s prime minister told reporters after the summit that leaders’ criticism of the Hungarian in the room was “very, very harsh,” and like nothing he’d ever heard at an EU summit. Jetten said the vibe in the room with EU leaders was “icy” at points, with “awkward silences.”  6) The EU’s not giving up on the loan. Despite murmurs ahead of the talks of a plan B in the works, multiple EU leaders as well as Costa and Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen were adamant that the loan was the only way to go — and that it will happen, eventually. “We will deliver one way or the other … Today, we have strengthened our resolve,” von der Leyen. Costa added: “Nobody can blackmail the European Council, no one can blackmail the European Union.” Top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas arrives at the European Council summit on March 19, 2026. | Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images 7) Kaja Kallas wants to avoid a messy entanglement. In her address to the bloc’s leaders, Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, stressed the importance of not getting caught up in the conflict in the Middle East. “Starting war is like a love affair — it’s easy to get in and difficult to get out,” she said, according to two diplomats briefed by leaders on the closed-door talks. At the same time, Kallas reiterated the importance of the EU’s defending its interests in the region but said there was little appetite for expanding the remit of its Aspides naval mission, currently operating in the Red Sea. 8) But it was all roses with the U.N. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres joined the Council for lunch, thanking them for their “strong support for multilateralism and international law.” In an an exclusive interview with POLITICO on the sidelines of the summit, Guterres applauded the restraint shown by the Europeans, despite Donald Trump’s anger at their refusal to actively support the war or help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime artery that Iran has largely sealed off, driving up global energy prices. 9) Kinda. One senior EU official told POLITICO that the lunch meeting was “unnecessary.” “With all appreciation for multilateralism and its importance … considering the role the U.N. is not playing in international crises right now, it is unnecessary,” said the official, granted anonymity to speak freely. 10) Celery is a very versatile vegetable. Also on the table while they picked over the future of the multilateral world order was a pâté en croûte with spring vegetables and fillet of veal with celery three ways. Three ways! And for dessert? A mandarin tartlet with cinnamon. 11) Cyprus and Greece want the EU to get serious about mutual defense. Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked the EU to think about a roadmap for acting on the bloc’s mutual defense clause, according to two EU diplomats and one senior European government official. The clause, Article 42.7, is the EU’s equivalent of NATO’s Article 5. Its existence and potential use has recently come into focus since British bases in Cyprus were attacked by drones. 12) And the Commission hopes it’s already got serious enough about migration. Von der Leyen said that while the EU has not yet experienced an increase in migrants as a result of the conflict in Iran, the bloc should be prepared. “There is absolutely no appetite … to repeat the situation of 2015 in the event of large migration flows resulting from the conflict in the Middle East,” said one national official. The Commission chief emphasized that the mistakes of the 2015 refugee crisis won’t happen again. 13) Von der Leyen likes to cross her Ts.   Speaking of emphasis — “temporary, tailored and targeted” was how von der Leyen described the EU’s short-term actions to minimize the impact on Europe of the recent energy price spikes after the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. The moves will impact four components that affect energy prices: energy costs, grid charges, taxes and levies and carbon pricing, she said. 14) The ETS is here to stay — with some modifications. While EU leaders agreed to make some adjustments to the Emissions Trading System — the bloc’s carbon market — most forcefully backed the continuation of the system itself. “This ETS is a great success. It has been in place for 20 years and is a market-based and technology-neutral system. So we are not calling the ETS into question,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters after the talks had concluded. While the Commission will propose some adjustments to the ETS by July, these are merely adjustments, not fundamental changes, the German leader said. In the run-up to the summit, some EU countries, including Italy, floated the idea of weakening the ETS to help weather soaring energy prices. 15) No matter what, EU leaders want to get home — ASAP. While Costa has so far ensured every European Council under his watch lasts only one day instead of the once-customary two, this time around, that goal was looking optimistic. However, at the end of the day, leaders’ dogged determination to get out of there prevailed (even if that meant kicking a discussion on the long-term budget to April). À bientôt!

BRUSSELS — Viktor Orbán has been attending European summits for 16 years. At what may turn out to be his swan song, he faced EU leaders separating themselves into good cops and bad, hoping to persuade him to approve a €90 billion loan to Ukraine. He saw them all off. But his victory may be short-lived. The bloc’s longest-serving government chief, facing an election in less than a month that he’s forecast to lose, has long been a thorn in the side of Brussels (which also means Paris, Berlin and a score of other capitals). There was no sign at Thursday’s European Council that even if he is preparing to walk off into the sunset he’s any less stubborn — or any more admired. “Nobody can blackmail the European Council, nobody can blackmail the European institutions,” European Council President António Costa, who chaired the meeting, told reporters, in an extraordinary broadside. “It is completely unacceptable what Hungary is doing.” The Hungarian prime minister reneged on a promise he’d made at a summit in December to approve the loan. In doing so, he’s undermining the very fabric of EU decision-making, which relies on governments sticking to iron-clad commitments, leaders said. Orbán “is violating one of the fundamental principles of our cooperation,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said shortly after the summit wrapped. His refusal to approve the Ukraine loan after formally giving his consent in December “is a serious breach of the loyalty among member states, undermines the European Union’s ability to act and damages the reputation of the EU as a whole.” With Europe looking impotent as war in the Middle East escalates, leaders hoped they could at least get money flowing to Ukraine to help it fend off Russia — in a conflict where the EU feels it actually has some sway. But the mood was grim. Even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was beamed into the meeting by video link after for so long being a ray of light at EU gatherings, seemed to make things worse rather than better. HARSH CRITICISM EU leaders divided into two groups to convince Orbán to change his mind. Most, including Costa, piled on the pressure. “It was very, very harsh criticism and the feeling was this simply cannot go on like this,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters. “I have never heard such hard-hitting criticism at an EU summit of anyone, ever.” Costa said no leader has ever violated “this red line before.”  There were some leaders who tried the opposite approach. Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and, though less effusive, Belgium’s Bart De Wever, attempted to appeal to Orbán’s ego, speaking sympathetically about understanding his position, five diplomats and an EU official granted anonymity to speak freely told POLITICO. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to EU leaders via video during a rountable of the EU Summit in Brussels on March 19, 2026. | Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Pool/AFP via Getty Images “You have to treat him like a 6-year-old child, you have to humor him,” said one of the diplomats. Ahead of the summit, the EU cooked up a compromise they hoped would let Orbán to save face in his election campaign yet still approve the loan. The EU was prepared to hold back from dispensing the money until oil flowed through the Druzhba pipeline, which brings Russian oil to Hungary and was damaged by a Russian drone in January, according to two EU diplomats and an EU official. In recent weeks, the Hungarian prime minister has linked the pipeline issue to the loan and accused Ukraine of not repairing Druzhba for political reasons — making it an election issue by painting himself as the protector of his country’s interests. Zelenskyy has said he doesn’t want to repair a pipeline that the Russians have repeatedly attacked, which helps fund the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of his country. Costa said during his press conference that Russia had damaged the pipeline 23 times since launching the full-scale invasion. “What I have done today is to crush the oil blockade, which [was] imposed on us by Zelenskyy,” Orbán said after the summit. “So I defended the interest of the country.” AFTER THE ELECTION Merz was among a group of leaders who hoped the Ukrainian president would use his address to the summit to reduce the temperature and reassure Orbán that he would fix the pipeline. Instead, Zelenskyy went on the offensive. “Zelenskyy played it harder than [our] expectations,” perhaps believing “he can wait it out,” said a government official who was granted anonymity to speak freely about the closed-door talks, like others quoted in the article. If Orbán wins the election next month, “maybe [Zelenskyy’s] calculation is that he will change his tone after.” While Ukraine desperately needs the EU’s €90 billion, Zelenskyy now has more time after the International Monetary Fund approved an $8.1 billion loan late last month. Kyiv should have enough money to stay solvent until early May, POLITICO reported. The antipathy between Orbán and Zelenskyy runs deep, according to a senior EU diplomat, and the ill will was on full display on Thursday. The Hungarian prime minister got up from his seat and stood behind the other leaders, looking on with contempt as Zelenskyy appeared on their screens, according to a diplomat. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (on screen) speaks to EU leaders via video as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán watches from the distance (bottom) at the European Council summit in Brussels, March 19, 2026. | Pool photo by Geert Vanden Wijngaert/OL / AFP via Getty Images After 90 minutes, with Zelenskyy digging in and the Hungarian not budging, the leaders decided to shut down the debate, issuing a statement that “the European Council will revert to this issue at its next meeting.” The bet is that one way or another, things will be different after Hungarians go to the polls on April 12. If Orbán loses, then his successor could be motivated to lift Budapest’s obstruction in exchange for the EU releasing cash. “France and Germany were not willing to spend too much time” or “political capital” to persuade Orbán at Thursday’s summit, and had “no willingness … to help his electoral campaign,” the national official said. If Orbán is reelected — which one EU official said many of the leaders in the summit room on Thursday believe is likely — then he may be more willing to approve the loan, once oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline again. But if he doesn’t, several punishments will be on the table at a leaders’ gathering in Cyprus on April 23-24, including freezing more funding, suing Hungary in the EU’s top court, issuing fines, and even the so-called nuclear option, Article 7, which strips countries of their EU voting rights. AWKWARD SILENCES The atmosphere during Thursday’s discussion was “icy” at points, with “awkward silences,” Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten said. It means the saga of the EU’s loan to Ukraine, which at one point the bloc was hoping to have resolved as long ago as a summit in October, is delayed for at least another month. A failure of leaders’ powers of persuasion? Not quite, maybe. “There was no way Orbán was going to say yes anyway,” one of the EU diplomats said. Most EU leaders hope it’s his last hurrah. Nette Nöstlinger, Nicholas Vinocur, Gerardo Fortuna, Gabriel Gavin, Hans von der Burchard, Sonja Rijnen, Zia Weise, Seb Starcevic, Giorgio Leali, Hanne Cokelaere, Ferdinand Knapp, Milena Wälde, Aude van den Hove, Gregorio Sorgi, Koen Verhelst, Victor Jack, Ben Munster, Jacopo Barigazzi and Bartosz Brzezińksi contributed reporting.

BRUSSELS — EU leaders have failed to convince Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to drop his opposition to a €90 billion loan to fund Ukraine’s war effort, according to four diplomats and officials. A 90-minute discussion on the loan failed to produce a clear path to a deal, according to the four diplomats and officials, granted anonymity to speak openly about the closed-door talks at the European Council. The Hungarian leader, supported by Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, reneged on an agreement among EU leaders in December to disburse the funds after Russian drones damaged the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian crude oil to their countries via Ukraine. The pair accuse Kyiv of slow-walking repairs. According to one of the diplomats, European Council President António Costa blasted Orbán’s behavior as “unacceptable” and a breach of the terms of cooperation that underpin the EU. Costa pointed out that no leader has ever violated “this red line before.” A second diplomat said the level of frustration with Orbán was unprecedented, but— with his Fidesz party trailing in the polls ahead of an April 12 election — few leaders wanted to be dragged into Hungarian domestic politics. Orbán responded to the criticism by insisting that his veto was legal, while Fico insisted his country is paying the price for the loss of discounted Russian fuel. Leaders of the other 25 EU countries have issued a joint statement welcoming the decision to loan the €90 billion and calling for “the first disbursement to Ukraine by the beginning of April.” While they will revisit the question of energy prices later Thursday, diplomats have played down the prospect of a deal being done to overcome the veto. CARROT AND STICK The EU had hoped that Orbán could be persuaded to honor the deal he agreed to at the December summit and lift his veto, according to an EU official and a diplomat. Another part of the plan was to give Orbán something he could claim as a win: the Commission’s mission to inspect the Druzhba pipeline. But the mission to Druzhba was something of a bust, with the team left waiting in Kyiv for permission to visit the site, which was some four hours away. Plus, Hungary and Slovakia objected in a letter, seen by POLITICO, to the fact that no one from their countries was included in the team. And the EU’s hopes that Orbán’s counterparts, particularly German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, would exert enough pressure on the Hungarian to get him to shift his position amounted to nothing. Koen Verhelst contributed to this report.

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music EU leaders gather in Brussels for a high-stakes summit — with Viktor Orbán once again at the center of the debate over funding Ukraine. As tensions rise, the big question is whether the Hungarian prime minister will hold the line or shift under pressure from fellow leaders. At the same time, divisions are emerging over how Europe should respond to the war in Iran — from ways to tackle rising energy prices to how far to go in coordinating with Washington. Meanwhile, in the European Parliament, lawmakers will vote on a key part of the EU-U.S. trade deal, deciding whether to move ahead with lowering tariffs on American industrial goods — even as doubts remain about U.S. reliability. And finally, a very Belgian problem — too many fries. Zoya Sheftalovich is joined by Sarah Wheaton to break down the politics — from summit dynamics to transatlantic trade. Send any questions or comments to us on our WhatsApp: +32 491 05 06 29.

BRUSSELS — The EU’s 27 member countries are set to back a push to send more naval ships to the Middle East as conflict paralyzes shipping routes, but will insist on them operating strictly within the parameters of missions that predate the war in Iran. Presidents and prime ministers from across the bloc will meet in Brussels Thursday to discuss their response to the Iran crisis. In a draft statement being negotiated by ambassadors in advance of the talks — seen by POLITICO — the leaders show support for an increased naval presence in the region. “The European Council highlights the role of the EU maritime defensive operations EUNAVFOR ASPIDES and EUNAVFOR ATALANTA, and calls for their reinforcement with more assets,” reads the latest version of the text, dated March 17. However, the text introduces new language demanding that the vessels take part in the missions only “in line with their respective mandates.” The EU-led Aspides is confined to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and was launched in 2024 in response to Houthi militant attacks on naval traffic travelling to and from Europe via the Suez Canal. Atalanta, meanwhile, patrols the east coast of Africa and the Indian Ocean to combat piracy. The Trump administration has urged European allies to send frigates to escort naval traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Energy prices have skyrocketed as a result of tankers being unable to cross the narrow waterway, which links oil- and gas-rich exporters like Saudi Arabia and Qatar to the global market. “I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called ‘Strait?’ That would get some of our non-responsive ‘Allies’ in gear, and fast!!!,” U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. Ahead of the EU summit, a group of countries — Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta and Cyprus — have written to the bloc’s leadership warning of another potential maritime crisis caused by the Russian liquefied natural gas carrier Arctic Metagaz, which has been adrift in the Mediterranean since March 3. “The precarious condition of the vessel, combined with the nature of its specialised cargo, gives rise to an imminent and serious risk of a major ecological disaster in the heart of the Union’s maritime space,” the leaders of the coastal nations warned. “In this context, we look to the European Commission to facilitate the mobilisation and coordination of Member States and existing EU-level mechanisms, with the goal of ensuring their more efficient, better coordinated and faster response.”

EU leaders were supposed to be discussing how to make the economy stronger, but that will have to wait until after they have talked about how to unblock a €90 billion loan to Ukraine, as well as the situation in Iran and the resulting rise in energy prices. Scroll down for the latest updates.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres will attend a lunch with EU leaders during a gathering in Brussels on Mar. 19, according to two EU diplomats, as some countries call for a stronger defense of international law from the bloc. The lunch with Guterres will likely focus on the situation in the Middle East, where a war between the United States, Israel and Iran — now in its second week — is disrupting trade and global energy markets. Guterres has previously attended March editions of the European Council’s gathering.

BRUSSELS — When the going gets tough, EU leaders pull up the drawbridge and lock themselves away behind fortified walls.  From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to Brexit to 9/11, major moments that require the EU to get its act together tend to get the same response: Head to a castle! This week is no exception. As debate about the EU’s future in an uncertain world intensifies, leaders will on Thursday gather at Alden Biesen in Flanders — a charming backdrop for some very serious conversations.  Located near Bilzen in Belgium’s Limburg province, Alden Biesen is one of the largest castles to be found between the Loire and the Rhine rivers. It even has a moat to keep out intruders (and presumably Donald Trump). If you listen to Enrico Letta, one of two former Italian prime ministers invited to the gathering, the task assigned to those at the retreat is ambitious: saving Europe. This retreat will show whether “Europe can turn around and become truly united, fully mature and independent,” the former Italian PM told POLITICO. Just as the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 “made Europe what it has become over the past 35 years,” Letta said, “now we must do the same thing again.”  Leaders in search of inspiration to rekindle EU competitiveness can draw on reports by Letta and the other invited Italian ex-PM, Mario Draghi — or they can simply admire the vaulted high ceilings, ancient tapestries and grand halls.  “The cloistered galleries of Europe’s châteaux and Schlösser have long been favoured gathering places for the EU’s political elite,” said Luuk van Middelaar, historian and director of the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics, because “they offer the seclusion deemed necessary to truly get down to business, far from the scrutiny and hubbub of the metropolis.”  “In the days when the European Council was still a travelling circus, castle summitry also offered a crucial opportunity for the host to show off. Castles provide what EU decision-making so often lacks: spectacle and splendor,” said van Middelaar.   Since October 2003, all formal European Council meetings have taken place in Brussels. Before then, the meetings were often held in the country holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.  When he took over as European Council president, António Costa said there would be informal “retreats” — meetings designed to let leaders brainstorm without the pressure of reaching conclusions. The idea was simple: get out of Brussels and think, his team told POLITICO. The first such getaway, focused on defense, was organized in a hurry. With little time to scout dramatic fortresses, the Council played it safe and met at the Palais d’Egmont in Brussels, home to the Belgian Foreign Ministry. A perfectly respectable venue — but not a castle. Council officials later reviewed locations across Belgium before landing on Alden Biesen, which met all the requirements: security for 27 leaders, room for the press, and the right blend of practicality and stone walls. In March 2022, EU leaders met at the Palace of Versailles, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. | Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images This week isn’t the first time the EU has taken this approach.  In March 2022, just days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, EU leaders met at the Palace of Versailles, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.  That informal summit produced the “Versailles Declaration,” committing member states to bolster defense spending and reduce energy dependence on Russia.  In September 2016, for their first gathering after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, leaders headed to the dramatic hilltop castle of Bratislava overlooking the Danube.  In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the European Council met in December 2001 at Château de Laeken, the official residence of the Belgian royal family. The secluded location offered the security required for sensitive discussions on terrorism.  Going back further still, in December 1991 the European Council summit that paved the way for the Maastricht Treaty took place at the Provinciehuis Limburg — not a castle. However, a side event took leaders to the nearby Château Neercanne, where, during a lunch hosted by Queen Beatrix, they symbolically signed their names on a cave wall.  On rare occasions, turrets give way to cloisters. The Treaty of Lisbon was signed on Dec. 13, 2007 at the 16th century Jerónimos Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site.  “Castles emerged in Europe largely in the wake of the collapse of Charlemagne’s empire. They were a reaction to the uncertainty of a power vacuum and the fear of what it might mean for those who held any power,” said medieval historian Matt Lewis.  “The appeal of holding significant international occasions with castles and palaces remains strong today,” Lewis added. “Modern politicians are, at least in part, using the very same playbook as their medieval forebears. At the same time, this retreat speaks to a level of fragility, a moment upon which so much might depend, that is firmed up by the centuries-old defences of a castle.”  Considering how Trump famously loves hosting guests at his own resort, Mar-a-Lago, one can only speculate whether, had Thierry Breton ever become European Commission president, meetings might have taken place at Château de Gargilesse — which Breton purchased in 2023.