Ukraine delaying restart of oil pipeline: Slovakia
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico accused Ukraine of delaying the restart of a pipeline carrying Russian oil to Eastern Europe via Ukraine in order to pressure Hungary to withdraw its opposition to Ukraine’s future membership in the European Union.
Russian oil bound for Eastern Europe via the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline has been suspended since Jan. 27 due to the Russian attack, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Fico, which maintained relations after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022 and accused its European partners of prolonging the war by supplying weapons to Kiev, said oil supplies had become a political issue but did not provide any evidence to support his claim.
“We have information that the pipeline needs to be repaired,” Fico told reporters after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Bratislava on Sunday.
“I perceive what is happening around oil today as political blackmail against Hungary due to Hungary’s uncompromising stance on Ukraine’s EU membership,” Fico said.
He said that the pressure was “If Hungary accepts EU membership, maybe oil supply may come.”
A spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Fico’s comments echoed Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who on Friday accused Ukraine of blocking the resumption of flows.
Slovakia and Hungary continued to receive Russian gas and oil despite EU efforts to switch entirely to alternative sources; Both countries argued that a lack of access to marine terminals and alternative routes made diversification difficult and expensive.
Hungary opposes Ukraine’s EU membership.
Fico reiterated that Slovakia would accept it if Kiev met all the necessary conditions, but added that countries such as Serbia, Albania and Montenegro were much better prepared for membership than Ukraine.
Fico also said he did not believe either side of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and could not say who was responsible for the damage to the pipeline.
“So many lies have been told from one side and the other that I don’t have the courage to say who bombed or destroyed part of the oil infrastructure,” Fico told reporters.
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