Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who refused to be moved over the Ukraine loan, speaks at a press conference at the EU Council in Brussels on March 19, 2026.Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images

15 things we learned at the EU leaders’ summit – POLITICO

by · POLITICO

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 …