The foreign minister of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto, claimed on Saturday that the European Commission’s decision to not intercede in a disagreement concerning a halt in oil supplies from Russia via Ukraine implies that Brussels might have been behind the disruption. Szijjarto’s comments followed both Hungary and Slovakia objecting since Ukraine added Russian oil company Lukoil to a sanctions list in June. This move prevented Lukoil’s oil from transiting Ukrainian territory to Slovak and Hungarian refineries.
Without offering any evidence, Szijjarto professed these grievance one day post the European Commission refusing a plea from Hungary and Slovakia to mediate in the sanctions dispute with Ukraine. Szijjarto, speaking at a conservative political festival, interpreted the European Commission’s unwillingness to aid in securing Hungary and Slovakia’s energy supplies as an indication of orchestrated difficulties for these countries from Brussels to Kyiv.
A spokesperson for the commission claimed on Friday that there were no signs that Ukrainian sanctions were threatening European energy supplies. Russian oil continues to flow through the separate Druzhba pipeline, linking Russia with Slovakia and Hungary via Ukraine. Responses to Saturday’s statement from Hungary were not immediately available from the European Commission or the Ukrainian government.
Last month saw similar accusations from Szijjarto, wherein he charged the European Commission with blackmail in the oil conflict and suggested that the entire situation might have been orchestrated by Brussels, not Kyiv. While the commission didn’t respond directly to Szijjarto at the time, it notified about gathering situational information.
Slovakia and Hungary, both EU countries, have consistently opposed military aid to Ukraine from western allies in the face of the Russian invasion that began in February 2022. Despite the EU’s efforts to reduce dependence on other Russian energy sources, the Druzhba oil pipeline remains operational. This pipeline’s southern branch runs through Ukraine to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary and has been these refineries’ primary supply source for years. A Hungarian government official announced on Thursday that Hungarian oil company MOL was nearing the completion of talks to ensure Russian crude oil flows. – Reuters