New Delhi, Jan. 20 -- The European Union is once again racing against its own institutional gravity.

As winter tightens its grip on the continent, the European Parliament is preparing to fast-track a vote on a €90 billion ($104 billion) loan package for Ukraine - a move that underscores both Brussels' political fixation on Kyiv and the growing fractures inside the bloc over how far that commitment should stretch.

According to parliamentary officials, lawmakers could approve the unprecedented financial mechanism as early as February, provided emergency legislative procedures clear a series of hurdles this week. The compressed timeline is no accident. It reflects mounting pressure on EU institutions to stabilize Ukraine's finances b...