The European Commission (EC) criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a remark that Hungary interpreted as a threat against Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Politico reported.
On March 5, Zelensky hinted that he had given the address of a "certain person" - understood to be Orban - to Ukrainian troops for a direct conversation "in their own language".
The EC's deputy chief spokesman Olof Gill criticized Zelensky, stressing that "this type of language is not acceptable. There should be no threats against EU member states," Gil said.
Tensions between Ukraine and Hungary have escalated in recent weeks after Budapest accused Kiev of deliberately stopping Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline. Ukraine denies this, claiming that the pipeline was seriously damaged by a Russian drone attack in January this year. Because of this, Hungary blocked a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine.
Today, Ukraine accused Hungary of kidnapping seven employees of the state-owned "Sberbank" and confiscating millions in cash and gold, while Viktor Orban vowed on social media to "break the Ukrainian oil blockade by force".
After his emotional outburst yesterday, Zelensky said he was ready to repair and restart the pipeline in a month if the EU officially requests it, and Orban promised to unblock the loan.
Olof Gill called on both sides to cool down tensions. "There is a lot of escalating rhetoric and provocative rhetoric at the moment. We believe that such rhetoric from all sides is neither helpful nor conducive to achieving the common goals that we all have here," he stressed.
He added that Brussels was "in active discussions with all sides" and urged them to "calm down a bit" and "to tone down the rhetoric".