Attacks on the “Druzhba” oil pipeline — Hungary bans Ukrainian commander from entering the Schengen zone

Ukraine has banned entry to the Schengen area of the Ukrainian commander responsible for the attack on the “Druzhba” oil pipeline on August 21.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote about this on social media.

“This was an attack on Hungary’s sovereignty that jeopardized our energy security and almost forced us to use our strategic reserves,” Szijjártó wrote.

Although Szijjártó did not name the person, it is likely that he is referring to the commander of the UAV Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Robert "Madyar" Brovdi. Hungarian media also report that this is Brovdi.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that Ukraine would take mirror actions.

“How shameless to publish this after the brutal attack by the terrorist state of Russia [the combined Russian attack on Kyiv on the night of August 28]. Peter, if the Russian pipeline is more important to you than the Ukrainian children that Russia killed this morning, then this is moral decay. Hungary is on the wrong side of history,” Sybiha wrote.

• The Schengen area operates on the principle of a single visa policy and a common database. If one member state places a person on the list of persons who are banned from entering, this ban automatically applies to all Schengen countries. However, another state may refuse to apply the ban if it considers that it has serious grounds for doing so. In such a case, it issues a limited national visa valid only on its territory.
• Attacks on oil pumping stations on the “Druzhba” pipeline began on August 13. On the night of August 18, the Ukrainian Defense Forces struck it a second time, and late in the evening of August 21, a third time.
• On August 20, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that the strikes had disrupted oil supplies to his country. He called the attack “outrageous and unacceptable”.
• However, the same day, the European Commission denied Budapest’s complaints that the strikes on the “Druzhba” pipeline were affecting oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia.

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