Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban dramatically praised Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo as a “hero”, claiming he was “prodded with burning irons” and had his “flesh torn with tongs”. Orban also argued that Kyiv faces “strategic defeat” that cannot be prevented with a proposed 90 billion euro support package, sharpening his criticism of Brussels’ Ukraine strategy. Orban declared that an “immediate war threat” had been averted after EU leaders failed to agree on what he called a “naive” Russian assets plan, even as they moved ahead with a large EU loan facility for Ukraine. Watch for more