The president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyenand the head of the European Council, Antonio Costahave convinced Volodímir Zelenski to proceed with the rapid repair of the Druzhba pipeline, which transports cheap Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia through Ukraine. The pipeline was damaged by Russian bombing on January 27.
Orbán had justified his veto of the loan to kyiv – approved in December unanimously by the 27 heads of state and government of the EU, including himself – by accusing Zelensky of deliberately blocking the supply of Russian oil to Hungary, because he considers that the damage in Druzhba is minimal and that the pipeline could be reopened immediately.
According to the Hungarian Government, the final objective of the EU and Ukraine would be to interfere in the April 12 elections, where all polls place the opposition leader as the favorite, Péter Hungarian (of the Tisza party) after sixteen years of absolute power by Orbán.
The president of Ukraine replied that the pipeline was severely affected by the Russian attacks and had until now refused to repair it for two reasons: to protect its workers from Moscow’s bombs and to prevent Vladimir Putin from using the proceeds from the sale of oil to Hungary and Slovakia to finance his war against kyiv.
Although they initially supported kyiv’s position, in the end Von der Leyen and Costa have pressured Zelensky to agree to repair Druzhba and have also offered EU funding for the work.
“We and our teams have maintained intensive discussions with Member States and with Ukraineat all levels, to repair and restore the flow of oil to Hungary and Slovakia,” say the President of the Commission and the head of the Council in a joint statement.
“The EU has offered Ukraine technical support and funding. Ukrainians have welcomed and accepted this offer. European experts are immediately available.”
“Our priority is to guarantee the energy security of all European citizens. In this sense, the European Commission will continue to work with the parties involved in the search for alternative routes for the transit of non-Russian crude oil to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe,” concludes the brief statement.
After the telephone conversation in which Costa informed him of the latest concessions, Orbán has published a video in which he assures that “Hungary’s position remains unchanged”. In addition to the 90 billion loan, Budapest blocks the twentieth package of sanctions against Moscow with the same argument.
“If President Zelensky wants to receive his money from Brussels, then he will have to reopen the Druzhba pipeline,” insists the Hungarian prime minister.
“Last week, the Ukrainians refused to receive our experts, even though we sent them there. They don’t want to negotiate. In fact, they openly admit that they have no intention of letting cheap Russian oil through to Hungary.”
“It seems to me that they are using the entire oil blockade to intervene in the Hungarian elections in support of the Tisza party. That is why the situation is extremely simple: If there is no oil, there is no money“Orbán threatened.
For his part, his Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártóhas called on Zelensky, Von der Leyen and Costa to “leave the theater and immediately restart oil supplies through Druzhba.”
Szijjártó maintains that the blockade was coordinated between kyiv, Brussels and Berlin, and rejects claims that it was due to technical problems.
Although Orbán has been blocking initiatives to support Ukraine for years, the EU considers that his veto of the 90 billion loan marks a qualitative leap: It is the first time that the Hungarian leader has revoked an agreement that he himself had approved.
The initial reaction of the leaders in Brussels was to threaten Budapest with retaliation for this retreat. After verifying that this strategy was not working, Von der Leyen and Costa ended up putting pressure on the president of Ukraine. However, Hungary castles in its veto.
The issue will be addressed during the summit of European leaders this Thursday, March 19 in Brussels. kyiv urgently needs the funds: since Donald Trump came to power it has depended exclusively on the EU for its survival, and the first payment was scheduled for April.
However, the heads of state and government seem resigned to waiting for the elections in Hungary before looking for a plan B.
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