Hungary threatens to block €6.5 billion from the European Peace Fund to Ukraine if Kyiv does not agree to lift the ban on oil transit of the Russian company Lukoil.
This was stated by the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Péter Szijártó, in an interview with ATV Hírado.
As Kyiv tightened sanctions Lukoil stopped supplying oil to Hungary and Slovakia. Both countries were exempted from the application of EU sanctions on the transportation of oil from the Russian Federation, but the new Ukrainian sanctions nullified their immunity from the restrictions.
According of Szijártó, Ukraine allegedly violated the Association Agreement with the European Union, because “[Ukraine] cannot completely or partially interrupt the transit of energy carrieers to EU countries.”
According to Sijarto, Ukraine allegedly violated the Association Agreement with the European Union, because "[Ukraine] cannot completely or partially interrupt the transit of energy carriers to EU countries.”
"I made it clear that until Ukraine resolves this issue, everyone should forget about paying €6.5 billion in compensation from the European Peace Fund," Szijártó said.
Now, according to Szijártó, the energy supply of Hungary and Slovakia is allegedly under threat because 33% of Hungarian oil imports and approximately 40-45% of Slovakian oil imports come from Russia Lukoil is in transit from Russia through Ukraine.
So, in his opinion, the European Commission is now "in a difficult situation", but cannot "deny reality". Sijarto emphasized that the European Commission should "really put pressure on Ukraine" to allow the transit of Lukoil oil through Ukraine again. However, the European Commission noted that "as of now, there is no direct impact on the safety of oil supplies to the EU."
Hungary has been blocking the allocation of more than €6 billion from the European Peace Fund to finance military aid to Ukraine for a long time — and is finding new excuses to justify it. So, for example, last year Hungary threatened to block EU aid tranches for Ukraine until OTP Bank was excluded from the list of war sponsors.
What preceded
Russiaʼs Lukoil has stopped supplying oil to Hungary and Slovakia due to Kievʼs sanctions against the company, which effectively prohibit it from using the territory of Ukraine for transit.
Because of this , the countries even initiated the consultation procedure of the arbitration court with the European Commission. Peter Sijarto said that this is "an unacceptable step on the part of Ukraine, which wants to become a member of the EU", saying that it endangers the supply of crude oil to two EU countries. And he added that this allegedly violates the Association Agreement with the EU.
The Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, has already threatened to stop the supply of diesel fuel to Ukraine due to blocking the transit of Russian oil.