The Druzhba oil pipeline at the Szazhalombatta oil refinery, south of Budapest, Hungary. Photo: EPA / Zsolt Szigetvary
Hungary has threatened to block the EU’s planned €90 billion loan to Ukraine until the flow of Russian oil resumes through the Druzhba pipeline, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced on Friday.
The Druzhba pipeline, which has transported crude oil from Russia to countries in Eastern and Central Europe since its construction in 1964, became a point of contention as the EU sought to reduce its reliance on Russian energy following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Budapest would veto the loan until oil transit to Hungary resumed and accused Kyiv of using energy supplies as political leverage “in coordination with Brussels and the Hungarian opposition” and of breaking its commitments to the EU.
The loan, which was agreed in December to help Ukraine address its budget deficit after EU member states failed to agree on the use of frozen Russian assets, requires the unanimous backing of all 27 EU countries. Brussels has not pushed Ukraine to repair the pipeline given the “high risk of repeated Russian attacks” on staff and infrastructure, according to European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen.
Hungary’s threat to derail the loan comes as the EU was preparing to give it the bloc’s final approval ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Druzhba pipeline dispute has strained relations, with Kyiv blaming Russian strikes for disruptions and Budapest retaliating by halting diesel supplies to Ukraine.
Kyiv will struggle to sustain its war effort without a fresh injection of funds, POLITICO reported on Friday. Orbán’s actions come at a tense time for him politically, with there being a very real chance he’ll be voted out of office in elections due to be held in April.
Due to their opposition to providing Kyiv with further aid, Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia are all exempted from contributing to interest payments for the proposed loan, which took the EU months to negotiate. Widely seen as Russia’s closest ally within the EU, Orbán has repeatedly threatened to block EU financial support to Ukraine.
