Hungary Slams Ukraine Pipeline Block as “Blatant Political Blackmail”
The pipeline has been offline since late January. Kyiv attributes the disruption to infrastructure damage caused by Russia — a claim Moscow has flatly rejected.
In a post on X Wednesday, Orban accused Ukraine of deliberately withholding supplies "to pressure us to support their EU membership and hand over funds belonging to Hungarian families." Budapest has long opposed Kyiv's EU accession bid, warning it would draw the bloc deeper into the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
"Thankfully, Hungary has a government that doesn't bow to blackmail," Orban said, confirming that Budapest would immediately suspend diesel fuel shipments to Ukraine as a countermeasure.
Slovakia — a fellow landlocked EU member equally dependent on Druzhba crude — announced an identical retaliatory step the same day. Bratislava has also signaled it may cut electricity exports to Ukraine if oil flows do not resume. Both nations argue their geographic position makes alternative energy sourcing logistically and economically unworkable.
Hungary simultaneously announced that energy firm MOL had finalized its first contracts to import Russian oil via Croatia, circumventing Ukrainian territory entirely. The initial shipments are expected to dock at a Croatian port in early March, with deliveries reaching Hungarian and Slovak refineries within five to ten days thereafter.
"We have taken all necessary steps to secure our supply and we will not give in," Orban insisted.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, responding to journalists Monday, described the situation as "a sort of energy blackmail by Ukraine against an EU member state, Hungary," adding that Russian energy companies are actively exploring expanded Croatian routing to increase volumes into Hungary.
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