Hungary accuses Ukraine of ‘oil blockade,’ places soldiers at energy facilities
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrives to attend the European Council summit at the EU headquarters in Brussels on March 21, 2024.
Sameer Al-doumy | Afp | Getty Images
Hungary has accused Ukraine of disrupting its oil supplies from Russia and deployed troops to critical energy facilities across the country as Prime Minister Viktor Orban steps up his rhetoric on energy and national security ahead of parliamentary elections in April.
Orban on Wednesday accused Kiev of imposing an “oil blockade” on Hungary by delaying the reopening of the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies Russian oil to Hungary and neighboring Slovakia.
Ukraine closed the pipeline a month ago. Saying that the Russian attack hurt himHowever, Hungary’s leader accused Kiev of deliberately keeping the pipeline closed for “political” rather than “technical” reasons.
“The Ukrainian government is putting pressure on the Hungarian and Slovak governments through the oil blockade,” Orban said. A video about X Following the meeting of the Hungarian Defense Council on Wednesday.
“They will not stop at this,” he claimed, adding without further details or evidence that “they are preparing for further actions to disrupt Hungary’s energy system.”
Orban said he “ordered to strengthen the protection of critical energy infrastructure.” “This means that soldiers and the equipment needed to repel potential attacks will be deployed near key energy facilities.”
“Police will also patrol with increased forces around designated power plants, distribution stations and control centres,” he said. Drones are also banned in the northeastern border region with Ukraine.
Ukraine has not publicly responded to the accusations, and CNBC contacted the country’s foreign ministry for a response.
Increasing rhetoric around energy and national security and growing anti-Ukrainian sentiment come as Hungary’s leadership struggles to hold on to power ahead of parliamentary elections in April.
While Orban’s right-wing Fidesz party is trailing in most independent polls, its former member and centre-right rival Peter Magyar is leading voter polls ahead of the April 12 elections.
thorny relationships
The comments come at a time of strained relations between the countries over energy, Russia-related sanctions and the ongoing war.
EU countries Hungary and Slovakia continued to import oil and natural gas from Russia despite the bloc’s efforts to restrict them. and I want to ban it completely — such imports as both countries say their economies and citizens are dependent on cheap Russian energy supplies.
Relations with Russia go deeper than energy; However, the leaders of both countries, Hungarian Orban and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, have good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. cold relationships With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
On Thursday morning, Orban posted: Open letter to Zelenskyy On Facebook, he accused her of “working for four years to bring Hungary into the war between you and Russia.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 5, 2024.
Valery Sharifulin | Afp | Getty Images
Hungary and Slovakia have frequently opposed EU sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine in 2022, and this week, which coincided with the fourth anniversary of the war, they again blocked an EU attempt to impose more punitive measures against Moscow.
Both said they had veto Due to the halt of oil shipments to Russia via the Druzhba pipeline, a Soviet-era pipeline whose name translates as “Friendship”, connecting the two countries via Ukraine.
The countries’ closeness to Russia and reluctance to impose sanctions, which accuse the EU of ignoring their energy needs, strain relations with Brussels.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó went further on Wednesday, saying Europe had overlooked events in which he said Ukraine was behind sabotage of the Russian-European energy infrastructure, such as the blowing up of the Nord Stream gas pipelines connecting Russia to Germany.
Ukraine denied involvement in damage to one of its pipelines, but researchers in germany They said the saboteurs were Ukrainians.
Szijjártó commented, “The people who are blocking transportation on the Friendship oil pipeline today are the same people who blew up the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline. This is the situation and we cannot allow it.” he said. reported By national news agency MTI. He could not provide evidence for his allegations.
