Hungary will impose sanctions on the Ukrainian officer responsible for the attack on a key pipeline supplying the country – the Hungarian authorities said today. This is another step in the escalation of the conflict between Hungary and Ukraine regarding the supply of Russian energy.
The Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó said that the commander would receive a ban on entering the country and the entire Schengen zone after last week Ukrainian drones and rockets hit the Russian Friendship pipeline, which provides more than half of the oil imported by Budapest.
The officer was later identified as Robert Brovdi, a commander of Hungarian origin, who heads the drone forces in the Ukrainian army and is widely known under the pseudonym “Madziar”.
“Ukraine knows perfectly well that the Friendship pipeline is of key importance for energy supply to Hungary and Slovakia, and such attacks harm us much more than Russia,” wrote Szyjjártó on the X website. “” Everyone who attacks our energy security and sovereignty must take into account the consequences. “
In response to this announcement, Brovdi wrote to Szijjártó that he is “complicitly multiplying bloody money”, conducting a campaign to maintain the supply of Russian oil to Hungary.
“Put your sanctions and restrictions on visiting Hungary in D … ę” – he added in a Facebook post.
Kiev announced that Budapest would react to this decision, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha wrote on X: “How can you brazenly publish something like that after a brutal attack of a terrorist state, which is Russia.” Today, Russia has carried out the largest rocket and drone attack on Ukraine for a long time.
The President of Ukraine Wołodymyr Zelnski also joined the discussion, who wrote on X: “Every day we hear new accusations to Ukraine by Hungary. Hungarian officials even went to attempts to discriminate against members of the Hungarian community in Ukraine for their participation in defense of our state and our nation.”
“If Hungary really closed the entrance to their territory and the entire Schengen zone for one of the Ukrainian military commanders, who is an ethnic Hungary and a citizen of Ukraine, it can only cause indignation. I recommended the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to explain all facts and take appropriate actions” – added the president.
On Thursday, the supply of oil was fully restored after Ukraine carried out three separate attacks on the pipeline last week, said Denis Saková, the Minister of Slovak Economy, who also imports oil through friendship.
