Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced Budapest's decision that the supply of diesel fuel to Ukraine would be stopped, Index.hu reports, writes UNN.
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Transportation via the Druzhba pipeline stopped on January 27 and has not resumed since, the Hungarian Foreign Minister said. Szijjártó states that this is a "purely political decision," "as there will be no technical obstacles to its resumption," the publication writes.
The Hungarian minister "warned of possible responses, stating that Hungary and Slovakia play a very important role in the supply of electricity, natural gas, and diesel fuel to Ukraine, which gives the two countries a certain trump card in energy disputes," the publication writes.
Ukraine also imports a significant amount of gas, electricity, and diesel fuel from Hungary. We will stop supplying diesel fuel to Ukraine, and it will not resume until oil is again sent via the Druzhba pipeline. This is where we are now
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico also noted that "Slovakia may stop supplying electricity to Ukraine," Aktuality.sk writes.
As Index.hu notes, Szijjártó also indicated that although the import of Russian oil is prohibited in the EU, landlocked Hungary and Slovakia received an exception for pipeline transport. However, there is another important point in the EU rules: if land transit is impossible, Budapest and Bratislava can also buy from Russia by sea. "That is why at the end of last week, we officially informed the Croatian government, together with the Slovak Minister of Economy, that we are using this European rule and intend to transport Russian crude oil to Hungary and Slovakia via the Adria oil pipeline," the minister said.
"MOL has already taken measures: the company has ordered a total of 500,000 tons of Russian oil for sea transportation." According to Szijjártó, this batch can arrive at the Croatian port around the beginning of March, and from there reach the countries' refineries in five to ten days. So, if all goes according to plan, oil arriving by sea will be available from mid-March.
"The European rule is binding on everyone, including Croatia. It is not about restructuring the Hungarian energy supply, but about living by the European rule. This is not a service, not charity, not humanitarian activity, but about respecting European rules," Szijjártó said.
The Croatian side previously noted that the transportation of Russian crude oil could even face American sanctions. However, according to Szijjártó, this "does not apply to MOL." The minister also stated that he and his Slovak counterpart wrote a letter to the European Commission on this issue.