Hungarian EU Affairs Minister Janos Boka said: "I think currently most member states understand that Ukraine's decision to cut off access to the Druzhba oil pipeline weakens energy security and this will affect the entire European Union.
In an interview with Politico, he noted that the Ukrainian side refused to meet or allow the Hungarian delegation to access the oil pipeline.
We still have to wait and see how committed the European Commission is to ensuring access to the Druzhba pipeline," he said.
Russian oil has not been transported through the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia and Hungary since January 27.
The Slovak government declared a domestic oil crisis on February 18. In response, Slovakia also stopped supplying electricity and diesel to Ukraine. Bratislava does not rule out the possibility of imposing new restrictions on Kiev if Kiev's approach to the Druzhba pipeline remains unchanged.
On March 16, a meeting of the EU Energy Council took place in Brussels with the participation of Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal to exchange views on the Druzhba pipeline.
We should also start by reminding ourselves why there is a problem with this oil pipeline. That's because Russia destroyed this pipeline, don't forget that. Therefore, the second question is how this affects the supply security of EU member states. Once again, it is important to emphasize that there is no supply security problem. Alternative sources exist and neighboring countries have helped ensure this" - European Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen emphasized.
According to the commissioner, Ukraine has received "a very clear signal that we want to see a schedule on when the Druzhba pipeline will resume operation". He also said that the European Commission intends to propose a ban on Russian oil imports.
As you know, sanctions are being applied, but there are 2 countries (Hungary and Slovakia - PV) exempted, and we will propose to change that" - he said.
