Hungary withdraws troops ordered by Orban to guard power plants due to “threat from Ukraine”

Two days after the parliamentary elections and the defeat of Viktor Orbanʼs Fidesz party, the Chief of the General Staff of Hungary ordered the withdrawal of military personnel who had previously been sent to protect energy facilities from an alleged threat from Ukraine.

This is reported by the Hungarian media 444.hu.

In February, two months before the election, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban said that Ukrainians could attack other Hungarian energy facilities after the “blockade” of the “Druzhba” oil pipeline. Therefore, he ordered the army to strengthen the protection of critical energy infrastructure.

Troops have been deployed to repel potential strikes near key energy facilities, and police have been ordered to patrol areas around designated power plants, distribution stations and control centers. In total, the army has deployed about 600 troops to patrol 75 facilities.

However, after Orbánʼs election defeat, companies responsible for critical infrastructure reviewed security measures and increased security on their own. Therefore, starting April 15, the Hungarian army will gradually withdraw troops from those facilities where the Ministry of Energy no longer needs them.

What preceded

Ukraine has suspended oil transit through the “Druzhba” pipeline since late January due to Russian attacks. For their part, Hungary and Slovakia, which received the vast majority of their oil through “Druzhba”, have said that Ukraine is blocking the oil route "for political reasons".

Hungary then blocked a €90 billion loan for Ukraine from the EU until Kyiv reopened the “Druzhba” oil pipeline. On February 26, Orbán wrote an open letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing him of anti-Hungarian policies and calling for the reopening of “Druzhba”.

Zelensky reacted and said that he would not restore the “Druzhba” pipeline damaged by Russia, because it involves Russian oil.

In March, Ukraine agreed to EU assistance to repair the “Druzhba” pipeline. At that time, Zelensky reported in a letter to the EU leadership that it would take about a month and a half to restore transit through the “Druzhba”. Already on April 14, Zelensky reported that the pipeline would be repaired by the end of April and that it would resume operations.

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