Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has admitted that his country could cut off electricity supplies to neighboring Ukraine if Kiev "continues to interfere with Russian oil supplies," DPA reported.
“I don't want to threaten or warn. But Ukraine receives a significant part of its electricity through Hungary,“ Orban told local journalists in Washington.
The Hungarian leader said Kiev must stop what he described as attempts to create unrest and blackmail, adding that Budapest could consider “retaliatory measures“.
Russian oil has not reached Hungary via the “Druzhba“ pipeline since late January through Ukraine, cutting off supplies on which Hungary and Slovakia are heavily dependent. In response, Budapest and Bratislava on Wednesday cut off fuel supplies to Ukraine.
Orban, who faces tough parliamentary elections on April 12, claims that Kiev wants him to lose the vote and is seeking to increase heating costs in Hungary by blocking the pipeline.
Without providing evidence, he has claimed that the rising conservative opposition party Tisza is “financed by Ukraine“ and that Ukraine, the European Union and Germany formed a “secret conspiracy“ at the recent Munich Security Conference to remove him from office.
For the first time in 16 years, Orban faces a serious challenge to his grip on power. Opinion polls over the past 18 months have shown Tisza, led by Péter Magyar, leading Orban's Fidesz by eight to ten percentage points.
Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago, Orban has sought to block EU aid to Kiev and sanctions against Moscow, calling the bloc's policy towards Ukraine "warmongering."
Orban made the remarks after the first meeting of US President Donald Trump's Peace Council, a newly created body of which Hungary and Bulgaria are the only EU members.