Hungarian minister accuses EU of orchestrating stoppage of Russian oil through Ukraine

Budapest, Hungary — Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Tuesday accused the European Union’s executive commission of orchestrating a disruption of some Russian oil supplies to the bloc through Ukraine and He warned that the dispute could lead to an energy crisis..

Last month, Ukraine adopted sanctions against Lukoil, Russia’s largest non-state company, banning the transit of its oil through the Druzhba or “Friendship” pipeline through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia. Hungary receives most of its crude oil from Russia, about half of which comes from Lukoil.

The move angered officials in Slovakia and Hungary, who argued that blocking supplies would jeopardize their energy security. The two countries threatened legal action against kyiv unless Lukoil crude is allowed to resume deliveries.

On Tuesday, Szijjártó lashed out at the EU executive commission in a Facebook post, writing that it had “done nothing” in the week since Budapest and Bratislava asked him to intervene in the oil dispute.

“Despite the threat to the energy security of two EU member states… Brussels remains silent,” Szijjártó wrote, adding that either the commission is too “weak” to protect the interests of Slovakia and Hungary or “it was Brussels, not Kiev.” , that invented everything.”

“The European Commission, and President Ursula von der Leyen personally, must immediately clarify: Did Brussels ask kyiv to ban oil supplies?” Szijjártó wrote. “And if not, why hasn’t the European Commission taken any action in more than a week?”

He echoed previous Hungarian claims that blocking Lukoil transfers through Ukraine was “blackmail” for Hungary’s advocacy of an immediate ceasefire and peace talks between Moscow and kyiv, a position many EU and NATO leaders have maintained. criticized as a strategy of appeasement towards Russia despite its invasion.

Hungary’s right-wing populist government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, is considered the Kremlin’s closest partner in the EU and has broken with the other countries in the bloc by refusing to provide Ukraine with weapons to defend itself against the large-scale invasion. Russian scale.

Orbán has systematically delayed, diluted or blocked efforts to send financial aid to kyiv and impose sanctions on Moscow for its war, and has pursued an adversarial foreign policy toward Hungary’s war-torn neighbor.

In 2022, the EU approved sanctions on the import of Russian oil into the bloc in response to the start of the war, although an exception was granted to landlocked Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to give them time to find other sources of crude. .

Last week, Orbán’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, said blocking Lukoil deliveries could lead to fuel shortages, but insisted there was “no reason to panic” as Hungary still had reserves. Still, he added, Hungary will seek a solution to the impasse before September.