Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitzo has threatened to cut off emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine if Kiev does not reopen a pipeline that supplies Russian oil to Slovakia and Hungary.
“If the president (Vladimir Zelensky) considers these supplies unimportant, we may decide to withdraw from the electricity supply agreement,” he said.
The prime minister of Slovakia, which along with Hungary has maintained close relations with Russia since it invaded Ukraine in 2022, declared a state of emergency over oil supplies and said he had ordered the use of 250,000 tonnes of oil from emergency reserves
Fitzo, citing Slovak intelligence, said the repair work had been completed.
He accused Ukraine of blocking supplies as a “blackmail weapon.”
Slovakia’s prime minister said the capacity of the Adria pipeline, which is being considered as an alternative, has never been tested and the cost could be five times higher than for the Druzhba pipeline.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also accused Ukraine of “blackmail” in his social media post. He also recalled that Hungary and Slovakia had asked Croatia to allow Russian oil supplies through its Adria pipeline.
The head of the Croatian Economy Ministry, Ante Šušnjar, responded that Croatia had acted responsibly and transparently with regard to regional energy security and would do so again for Hungary and Slovakia, fully respecting the Ukrainian allies.
Also today, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Budapest’s decision to suspend diesel supplies to Ukraine until oil transit to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline is resumed.
Szijjártó also blames Kiev for that decision not to resume oil transit for “political reasons”.
“We cannot be expected to ensure another country’s energy security while our own supplies are threatened. Co-operation in the energy sector should be mutual and based on respect, not pressure,” he wrote on social network X.
Kiev has so far not responded to the Hungarian and Slovak accusations. Ukrainian authorities claim that the Druzhba pipeline, which runs from Russia through its territory to Slovakia and Hungary, was shut down after being damaged during a Russian attack on 27 January near the Ukrainian town of Brody.
Although the European Union has imposed a ban on Russian oil pipeline imports due to the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, landlocked Hungary and Slovakia have been granted exemptions to those sanctions.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) released a report on 16 February arguing that Hungary does not need Russian oil because it has access to other sources.
“There is no technical or economic reason to continue the sanctions exemption for Russian oil in Central Europe. Hungary’s continued dependence is a political choice that weakens EU unity and undermines the credibility of the sanctions regime. A gradual phase-out of Russian crude oil by the end of 2026 is both appropriate and necessary for Europe’s long-term energy security,” said Martin Vladimirov, Director of CSD’s Energy and Climate Programme.