Sir, – The price of oil skyrockets as US sanctions on Russian oil are lifted and US “secretary of war” Pete Hegseth requests $200 billion more from Congress to keep the conveyor belt of US missiles going in the direction of Iran.
At the same time, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban continues to block the EU’s €90 billion loan to Ukraine and European countries dilly-dally over what they should do about the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, money flows into Russian coffers and the existential threat to Ukraine (and to the rest of Europe) accelerates exponentially.
The EU needs to get a grip on reality. It must pass wartime emergency legislation to sideline Hungary’s veto on the loan to Ukraine, while also exerting maximum pressure on US president Donald Trump to end the war against Iran. It must reverse the previous decision not to use frozen Russian assets held within the EU to fund Ukraine. EU arms production should be ramped up and Ukraine supplied with what it needs to fight Russia. On top of this, maximum sanctions must be imposed on Russia and its trading partners.
It’s pointless having an EU if it can’t protect us from our real enemy – Russia. – Yours, etc,
RM Block
CHRIS FITZPATRICK,
Terenure Road East,
Dublin 6.
