The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen strongly condemned the Russian attacks on the Ukrainian city of Brody, which damaged the Druzhba oil pipeline, reports „European Pravda“. According to her, the attacks had a direct impact on the energy security of the European Union, reports News.bg.
Von der Leyen called for the acceleration of restoration work on the pipeline and thanked Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković for the proposal to ensure oil supplies to Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia through the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline.
The interruption of the Russian oil flow through the „Druzhba“ in late January led to a state of emergency in the oil sector of Slovakia and Hungary and caused tensions between Budapest, Bratislava and Kiev.
On February 23, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico ordered a halt to emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine and said he might reconsider his country's position on Kiev's accession to the EU. Hungary also warned that it might take a similar step.
Bratislava claims that Ukrainian authorities are not allowing Slovak experts to the site of the impact to assess the damage to the pipeline. Meanwhile, Hungary and Slovakia have also suspended diesel exports to Ukraine.
The Slovak opposition criticized the government's actions and announced its intention to challenge Fico's decision to cut off electricity supplies in court.