The European Commission contradicts itself by remaining silent while Ukraine repeatedly attacks the Friendship oil pipeline, which is crucial for the energy supply of Hungary and Slovakia, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Tuesday.
Speaking on the program Fight Hour, the minister recalled that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had recently “openly and shamelessly threatened” Hungary by making clear that unless the country adopted a pro-Ukraine stance aligned with Brussels and the Tisza Party, Ukraine would continue targeting the Friendship pipeline.
Szijjártó underlined that Hungary’s oil supply depends on imports from Russia through the Friendship pipeline and from Croatia via the Adria pipeline, the latter lacking sufficient capacity. “If deliveries through the Friendship pipeline are disrupted for a longer period, the supply of both Hungary and Slovakia will become impossible. Energy supply is not a political or ideological question, it is a physical reality,” he said.
He criticized the European Commission for failing to act, despite earlier commitments to protect energy infrastructure in member states. “The Commission has ceased to be a European Commission; it has become a Ukrainian Commission, serving Ukraine’s interests instead of those of EU countries,” Szijjártó declared.
The minister also noted that Hungary supplies 30–40 percent of Ukraine’s electricity imports, which gives Budapest leverage it chooses not to use. “We do not want to harm Ukrainian families; we are better than that. But Ukraine should remember this when deciding whether or not to bomb the Friendship pipeline,” he concluded.