Defending Nato’s eastern flank from Russia would cost Poland 24 times its current defence budget, minister warns – Europe live

<p>Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski said in a speech to parliament that cost could pass €1.2tn ($1.42 trillion</p><p>Meanwhile, <strong>Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán has urged the European Union to form a “fact-finding mission” to inspect the Druzhba pipeline amid escalating tensions withh Ukraine.</strong></p><p>In a letter to European Council president <strong>António Costa,</strong> <strong>Orbán insisted that his initiative seeks to “facilitate the timely resolution of this issue,”</strong> which held up the payment of the EU’s €90bn loan to Ukraine and the adoption of the 20th package of sanctions against Russia (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/feb/26/europe-latest-news-updates-russia-ukraine-war?page=with%3Ablock-69a000fe8f08255e30052d23#block-69a000fe8f08255e30052d23">9:47</a>).</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/feb/26/europe-latest-news-updates-russia-ukraine-war">Continue reading...</a>