Orbán threatens to halt electricity supplies to Ukraine, nearly half of Ukraine’s imports
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has threatened to stop electricity supplies to Ukraine if oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline is not restored.
Source: Telex, an independent Hungarian news portal, citing Orbán at an event with activists of the Fidesz party in the city of Bekescsaba, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Orbán was asked several questions by the audience about the Druzhba oil pipeline, which was damaged by the Russians, but the Hungarian government blames Ukraine for the disruption in supplies.
Orbán said Ukrainians aimed to create economic chaos and an energy emergency in Hungary and to bring about the defeat of the Fidesz party in April's elections.
Quote: "Chaos in the minds of Ukrainians is the path to the opposition's victory in the elections."
More details: Orbán did not rule out that if Ukrainians fail to restore pipeline transit, Hungary would stop supplying electricity to Ukraine.
Quote: "Much of the electricity comes into Ukraine from Hungary. If we stop this, bad things could happen...
Of course, we make some mistakes, but you cannot say we are crude or brainless. We know exactly how to deal with such a situation and we will deal with it. Anyone who bites us will have their teeth knocked out."
For reference: Hungary is an important supplier of electricity to Ukraine, with the share of imports from Hungary reaching 50% of Ukraine's overall electricity import structure in February 2026. ExPro, a Ukrainian analytical agency, estimates that in 2025 Ukraine imported about 1.4 million MWh from Hungary, which accounts for 42% of all imports.
Background:
- Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico has said he will move to stop his country's electricity exports to Ukraine unless Kyiv restores Russian oil transit to Slovakia by Monday 23 February.
- Fico wants to send a monitoring mission to the site of damage to the Druzhba pipeline in the Ukrainian city of Brody to obtain an expert assessment of the damage.
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