On February 24, European Commission (EC) spokeswoman Anna Kaisa Itkonen confirmed that experts from the oil coordination group will discuss the energy resource supply situation to Hungary and Slovakia.
According to Ms. Itkonen, the coordination team is scheduled to meet at 10 am on February 25 to inventory and evaluate the latest developments in detail. This is the first official response from Europe after a long delay before intervention proposals from Central Europe.
This meeting marks the first gathering of the expert group after more than 1 month since the oil supply through the Druzhba pipeline from Ukraine was completely suspended.
Cutting off energy flow from Ukraine has pushed Hungary and Slovakia into a difficult position, directly threatening the operations of the region's largest oil refineries. The delay in organizing this meeting has sparked a wave of strong criticism from Hungarian and Slovak officials of the European Commission's attitude.
For the past month, the silence of functional agencies in Europe has caused much controversy about solidarity and fairness in the bloc. Hungary and Slovakia accuse Kiev of using energy infrastructure as a political weapon to put pressure, and at the same time demand that Europe take drastic intervention measures to protect the legitimate rights of its members.
Experts believe that the upcoming meeting will be an important test for the EC's ability to coordinate in protecting energy security for member states. If substantive solutions are not put forward to restore supply, Brussels' credibility with Central and Eastern European countries will be seriously reduced. This is also an opportunity for the parties to clarify Ukraine's legal responsibility in maintaining energy flows under transit agreements signed with neighboring countries.
The results of this discussion are expected to clarify the roadmap for supply recovery and contingency scenarios if the disruption continues.
In the context that countries like Hungary are making efforts to seek autonomy through building their own alliances, moves from the European Commission will determine the level of stability of the regional energy market. Maintaining unity in the bloc's energy policy is becoming more difficult than ever when national interests and geopolitics are intertwined and complex.
This event is also a wake-up call for the entire region about the fragility of transit pipelines through war zones. Europe is currently facing a difficult problem: How to both maintain sanctions pressure and ensure essential energy security for its own members.
