Attempts by Hungary and Slovakia to involve the EU in the dispute with Ukraine over Russian oil failed yesterday. The European Commission has delayed their request to call on Kyiv to lift recent sanctions against the Russian oil company Lukoil, which effectively prohibit Ukraine from being used as a transit point for supplies to these countries.
This is reported by the Financial Times (FT).
After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, EU countries were prohibited from importing Russian oil, but Slovakia and Hungary made an exception, since oil from the Russian Federation is still the main source of energy for these countries.
The “Druzhba” pipeline, which passes through Ukraine, remained the main route for supplies to Slovakia and Hungary. However, in July, Lukoil stopped supplying oil to Hungary and Slovakia. This happened after Kyiv tightened sanctions against the company, which effectively prohibit the use of Ukraine as a transit for oil supplies to these countries.
Because of this, both states initiated the consultation procedure of the arbitration court with the European Commission. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary Péter Szijártó called the strengthening of sanctions against Lukoil "an unacceptable step on the part of Ukraine, which wants to become a member of the EU", because the ban on transit threatens the supply of crude oil to two EU countries. And he added that this allegedly violates the Association Agreement with the EU. The Hungarian minister called this decision of Ukraine "unfriendly", considering that Kyiv receives electricity from Hungary.
However, EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told the Financial Times that Brussels "needs more time to gather evidence and assess the legal situation".
At yesterdayʼs meeting of trade representatives of EU member states, 11 countries supported his position, and none of them sided with Hungary and Slovakia, three diplomats told the publication. One of them stated that the trade agreement with Ukraine includes a security clause that could allow disruption of supplies.
It is not clear what kind of sympathy Hungary was hoping for when it complained to the European Commission about the strengthening of sanctions against Kyiv, given the recent "peaceful tour" of the countryʼs Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, which was condemned by the European Union.
When Hungary began presiding over the EU Council in early July 2024, Orban went on a "peace tour", during which he visited Kyiv, where he asked Zelensky for a ceasefire, then met with Putin and also visited China.
The EU leadership criticized Orbán for not coordinating his visits to Russia and China, and therefore could not represent the EUʼs position there. Some EU officials in private conversations even discussed possible punishment for Hungary for this "peace tour", in particular, they discussed the possibility of depriving Hungary of the presidency of the EU Council on a rotating basis. The European Commission has already canceled the traditional visit to Budapest.
At the same time, these visits of Orban were approved by his pro-Russian Slovak colleague, the Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico. He said he would like to join Orbán in Moscow if his health permits.