On February 22, Hungary announced that it would resolutely block the adoption of the European Union's (EU) latest sanctions package against Russia. This tough decision was made by Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó right after an emergency meeting of the Energy Security Council held last weekend.
Budapest officials announced that they will continue to veto the bloc's embargo efforts until Kiev agrees to repair the damaged Druzhba pipeline due to Russian fire and resume crude oil flow to its territory. The 20th sanction package that Hungary does not support is expected to be discussed at the EU foreign ministers' meeting on February 23.
At the meeting, the Energy Security Council also considered the issue of electricity exports to Ukraine, which accounts for nearly half of Kiev's total electricity imports. Foreign Minister Szijjártó noted that cautious action is needed because sudden power cuts will directly affect the civil community in the Transcarpathia region.
However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán affirmed that he would not restore the diesel fuel supply that was just suspended last week. At the same time, Budapest will continue to block the 90 billion euro loan package that the EU has decided to allocate to Kiev.
Agreeing with this move, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico also issued a harsh warning. He declared that if oil supplies are not resumed before February 23, Bratislava will order the national power corporation (SEPS) to urgently stop supplying electricity to Ukraine.
In response to the barrage of pressure, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately strongly condemned the ultimatums from the Slovak and Hungarian governments. Kiev affirmed that the disruption of energy flow since the end of January was a force majeure consequence after a Russian drone directly hit the Druzhba pipeline.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry criticized the threat to cut off electricity from the two neighboring countries amidst the country's energy infrastructure being destroyed by Moscow in the harsh winter as "irresponsible, provocative and threatening the energy security of the entire region".
While most European countries have significantly cut or completely stopped importing energy from Russia since February 2022, Hungary and Slovakia still maintain huge supplies from Russia thanks to the EU's temporary exemption regime. Prime Minister Orbán has repeatedly argued that Russian fossil fuels are a vital factor, and sudden supply shifts will push the country's economy into an immediate collapse scenario.
