Hungary says European Commission has not sided with it over Druzhba pipeline

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has said Budapest received a response from the European Commission 10 days after sending a joint letter with Slovakia regarding the suspension of Russian oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline, and that the Commission "did not side with them".

Source: Hungarian news website Index

Quote: "In the letter they did not side with Hungary and Slovakia at all – they claim that Hungary and Slovakia have no supply problems. They stand up for the Ukrainians and do not defend EU member states. Moreover, Brussels has shamefully colluded with Croatia in an attempt to obstruct the import of Russian oil to Slovakia and Hungary by sea."

Details: Szijjártó claimed that legally both countries have the full right to buy Russian seaborne oil as long as they cannot receive it via pipeline (the EU decisions made an exception for Russian pipeline oil).

"This is a clear and valid EU decision. But despite this, the European Commission has colluded with Croatia to block the supply of Russian oil by sea," the minister said.

Quote: "This is a shameful and outrageous situation, so it is even more important that we win the elections – because only a sovereign national government can guarantee that household utility bills in Hungary will remain low in the future and that sovereign decisions on energy supply will be made in Hungary."

Background:

• Also on 6 March, the European Commission confirmed that Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has requested a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said he will block a €90 billion EU loan for Ukraine until transit via the Druzhba pipeline is resumed, and Hungary's energy minister has said the country will take legal steps if transit is not resumed within three days.

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