EU leaders are meeting in Brussels this morning for what was meant to be a discussion on the bloc`s competitiveness and economy, but "events, my dear boy, events" mean they will have to focus on Hungary`s ongoing spat with Ukraine and the Middle East instead, writes The Guardian.

"Less than four weeks before a key parliamentary election in Hungary, Viktor Orbán will once again come under pressure to unblock the EU`s €90bn loan to Ukraine, which he is blocking over a dispute about the Druzhba pipeline. But arriving in Brussels just a few minutes ago, Orbán has made it clear that he is not in a mood to compromise.

He said: "We would like to get the oil which is ours from the Ukrainians and which is … blocked by the Ukrainians. I will never support any kind of decision here which is in favour of Ukraine [as long as] the Hungarians are not able to get the oil which belong to us".

Asked if there is any other option to agree a way forward, he said: "No". "Sorry, no other option. We need it because it`s existential. What we are speaking about is not politics. It`s existential for Hungary to get the oil … Without getting that oil, all the households, Hungarian companies will go to bankruptcy.

So you know, it`s not a joke, not a political game. Zelenskyy should understand it that this is not a game. This is absolutely existential for the Hungarians".

The leaders will also have to discuss the situation in the Middle East amid growing concerns about the impact the conflict will have on Europe, including on energy prices".