The revolt of Budapest and Bratislava. Orban accuses Ukraine of an “oil blockade” and wants to establish a commission

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on Friday in a video posted on Facebook that he had agreed with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to establish a joint Hungarian-Slovak commission to investigate the condition of the Druzhba pipeline in Ukraine.

The Prime Minister called on the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to allow Hungarian and Slovak inspectors access to the pipeline and to launch the transmission network. In an interview with Radio Kossuth earlier on Friday, Orban described the alleged suspension of oil transport through Kiev as a “direct attack on Hungary's economic sovereignty” and an attempt by Zelensky to impose an “oil blockade” on the neighboring country.

Commenting on the conversation with Orban, Prime Minister Fico said that “Ukraine is conducting a campaign aimed at convincing the EU institutions that – technically – it is no longer possible to send oil through the territory of Ukraine to the territory of the Slovak Republic.”

– We asked our ambassador in Kiev to go to the place which, according to the Ukrainian side, is damaged. He wasn't allowed to do this. The EU ambassador residing in Kiev was also not allowed, announced the Slovak Prime Minister. He added that he agreed with Orban that the pipeline was not damaged “unless it were damaged today, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, like Nord Stream, which Ukraine is undoubtedly capable of.”

The Slovak Prime Minister announced that the group of inspectors proposed by him and Orban would consist of representatives of Slovakia, Hungary and the European Commission.

– We feel that the EU puts Ukraine's national interests ahead of those of Hungary and Slovakia. This is a very dangerous trend. Today I will repeat to the president of Ukraine that if there is a failure of the energy system in his country and he asks for emergency supplies, he will not receive anything from Slovakia, Fico said.

The pipeline was damaged in late January by a Russian attack. Kiev assures that it is being renovated, but Budapest and Bratislava maintain that the Ukrainian authorities are deliberately suspending the restoration of the transport of Russian crude oil.

On Thursday, Orban asked in a letter to the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, to establish a fact-finding mission that would assess the condition of the pipeline.

In response to the suspension of supplies from Russia, Hungary and Slovakia released their strategic oil reserves and stopped supplying diesel oil to Ukraine. In addition, the authorities in Bratislava suspended electricity supplies to Ukraine, and Hungary threatened to make a similar decision. The government in Budapest also announced that until oil transport is resumed, it will block the 20th package of EU sanctions against Russia and the EU loan to Kiev worth EUR 90 billion.

On Wednesday, Orban announced strengthening the protection of critical infrastructure and deploying troops around it, as well as introducing a ban on the use of drones in the Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg county (region) bordering on Ukraine. He argued that “Ukraine is preparing for further actions aimed at disrupting the functioning of the Hungarian energy system.”

Jakub Bawołek from Budapest (PAP)

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