Ukraine accuses Hungary, Slovakia of blackmail in energy row
Kiev has accused Hungary and Slovakia of provocation and blackmail following threats to cut off energy supplies unless Kiev resumes the flow of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline.
“Statements from Budapest and Bratislava are provocative, irresponsible, and threaten the energy security of the entire region,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X on Saturday.
Kiev is considering activating an early warning mechanism in its Association Agreement with the European Union, he added.
Earlier, Slovakia and Hungary had threatened Ukraine with a halt to emergency power supplies if Kiev does not allow the resumption of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline.
If oil transit to Slovakia is not resumed on Monday, Prime Minister Robert Fico said he would call on the state grid operator SEPS to halt emergency power supplies to Ukraine, according to a government statement, quoted by news agency CTK.
Ukraine: Repair work on pipeline under way
Unlike other EU states, Hungary and Slovakia continue to receive relatively cheap Russian oil despite Western sanctions and rely on the Druzhba pipeline for their supplies. Ukrainian officials have said that the pipeline was damaged in the Russian attacks and repair work is under way despite the risk of further missile strikes.
However, Hungary and Slovakia accuse the Ukrainian leadership of deliberately preventing the resumption of deliveries.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said the governments in Budapest and Bratislava should address their complaints to the Kremlin, not to Kiev, and criticized what it said were plans to withhold electricity, heating and gas from Ukrainians during a period of extreme cold.
“The governments of Hungary and Slovakia are not only playing into the hands of the aggressor, but also harming their own energy companies that supply energy on a commercial basis,” it added.
Ukraine sees the purchase of gas and oil from Russia by the two EU countries as helping finance Russia’s war against it.
Hungary threatens to block huge Ukraine loan
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán hinted a few days ago that his country could hinder power supplies to neighbouring Ukraine if Kiev continues to disrupt Hungary’s supplies.
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó also announced on Friday that his country would block the EU’s €90 billion ($106 billion) loan for Ukraine until oil transit to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline is resumed.
Orbán has expressed the view that Ukraine is interested in him losing the parliamentary election scheduled for April 12, and therefore wanted to ensure that heating costs in Hungary rise by blocking the Druzhba pipeline.
