The Druzhba pipeline was subjected to three Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory and Budapest and Bratislava call on the European Commission to prevent such attacks, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook today, adding that the pipeline is very important for energy supplies to Hungary and Slovakia, the Hungarian news agency MTI reported, quoted by BTA
Szijjártó and his Slovak counterpart Juraj Blánár today sent a letter to the European Union High Representative Kaia Kalas and Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen, stating that oil supplies to Slovakia and Hungary via the pipeline could be canceled for at least five days.
“Let us be clear: with these attacks Ukraine is not harming Russia, but mainly Hungary and Slovakia“, said Szijjártó. “The “Družba“ pipeline is indispensable for our energy supplies. Without it, the provision of oil to our countries is simply impossible. Such attacks are a direct and unacceptable attack on our energy security“, he added.“
Noting that the EC had committed in January to such attacks on supply lines, Szijjártó said that “despite these three attacks, it has remained silent, has not taken any measures to protect the energy supplies of the member states“.“.
In their letter, Szijjártó and Blanár called on the EC to take measures against the Ukrainian attacks on the pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia.“
“Brussels must understand, that they are the European Commission, not the Ukrainian Commission“, Szijjártó said.
In their letter, Blanár and Szijjártó noted that the EC's statement of January 27 calls on third parties to respect the integrity of energy infrastructure, which the member states charge as “a matter of security for the EU“. The EC stated that it is “ready to take measures to protect important energy infrastructure such as power cables and gas and oil pipelines and facilities“, the letter says.
“Given that the EU and its member states have provided hundreds of billions of euros in support to Ukraine in recent years, we consider Ukraine's actions, which greatly threaten the energy security of Hungary and Slovakia, to be completely unacceptable“, the letter says.
“We strongly call on the EC to immediately comply with its commitments, highlighted in the above-mentioned statements, and to ensure the security of supplies of energy resources to member states“, the ministers said.