Ukraine will be forced to lift its oil blockade against Hungary because it will run out of money before the Hungarian government runs out of oil. This was the opinion expressed by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjarto, speaking at a meeting with voters in Szolnok.
He noted that it is unlikely that Kiev will resume supplies of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline before the parliamentary elections in Hungary, scheduled for April 12, as it wants to complicate the situation in the country and help the Hungarian opposition. “But if the current government remains in power, the Ukrainians will be forced to agree, because their money will run out before our oil“, the foreign minister was quoted as saying MTI.
Szijjártó stressed that the ruling Fidesz party - the Hungarian Civic Union, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has every reason to expect success in the upcoming elections.
The minister said that "Ukrainians are currently running out of money", but Hungary will not support any EU decision in favor of Ukraine until the transit of oil from Russia is resumed. Budapest previously blocked Kiev's €90 billion "military loan" and stopped diesel fuel supplies to Ukraine. The Hungarian government is confident that the pipeline, whose infrastructure was previously damaged, has now been restored and is ready for operation, and therefore Kiev's blockade is solely for political reasons.
Russian oil has not reached Hungary since January 27. On February 15, Hungary and Slovakia demanded from Croatia to allow crude oil supplies via the Adriatic pipeline. The oil is expected to be transported by sea to the Croatian port of Omišalj. The Hungarian government also decided to provide MOL with 250,000 tons of oil from its strategic reserves for its refineries. These reserves are enough for three months.