The foreign minister said Ukraine’s decision to halt Russian oil company Lukoil’s crude oil transits to Hungary and Slovakia violates the EU-Ukraine association agreement which states that Kyiv must not disrupt the transit of energy to members of the bloc.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said in Brussels on Monday that in line with the agreement, in such case, the affected member state can immediately launch a consultation procedure and the European Commission is obliged to represent the state in the matter. The minister said Hungary and Slovakia were simultaneously working on various legal and technical solutions in order to ensure that in case the consultations failed, the court dispute settlement proceedings could start. “We have been continually in contact and certain solutions have been taking shape that could secure energy supplies in the long term,” he said. Szijjártó said the Ukrainian decision was “unfriendly and unexpected” also in light of the fact that 42% of the country’s electricity imports arrived from Hungary in June. He said that despite all the criticism it was receiving, Hungary was continually aiding Ukraine’s energy supply “in these hard times”. The company that operates Hungary’s electricity network is making serious efforts to help Ukraine connect with the European network, he said. Additionally, next to Poland, Slovakia and Hungary granted rapid aid to Ukraine for the operation of its energy system, Szijjártó said.