Europe Asia News

Orban said: “Zelensky openly threatened Hungary. He admitted that they bombed the Druzhba oil pipeline because we did not support his EU membership. This shows that the Hungarians made the right decision. <...> Zelensky’s words will have long-term consequences.”

Since the beginning of August, Budapest has reported three attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Druzhba pipeline on August 13, 18, and 22. The last two attacks caused oil pumping to stop. Hungary and Slovakia lost supplies for five days.

Orban also stated that the EU cannot be entered through blackmail, explosions, and threats.

The Druzhba oil pipeline starts from Almetyevsk, passes through Bryansk, and then splits into two sections: the northern branch goes through Belarus to Poland, and the southern branch through Ukraine to Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

Shipments of raw materials from Russia to Germany stopped at the beginning of 2023, and to Poland at the end of February the same year. The remaining countries continue to receive oil through the southern branch of the pipeline.

The officials of the two countries demanded that the European Commission guarantee energy security. However, EU sources believe that there is no threat to the European Union’s fuel supply.

When asked by journalists how the attacks on the pipeline affected Budapest’s position on Ukraine’s EU accession, Zelensky replied: “The existence of Druzhba depends on Hungary’s position.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto called on Zelensky to stop threatening Budapest. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha sharply responded to this call, advising his Hungarian counterpart not to tell Zelensky “what to do and what to say,” and also suggested diversifying energy sources.