Hungary and Slovakia have jointly initiated arbitration proceedings with the EU over the blockade of Russian oil supplies by Ukraine.
How Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó von der Tagung der EU-Foreign Minister reported in Brussels on Monday, Budapest and Bratislava have reacted in a coordinated manner to the “unfriendly” measure by Kyiv to block oil transit in relation to the Russian Lukoil As the minister stressed, this measure endangers the security of supply of the two EUMember States.
Deeply strange behavior
Szijjártó again claimed that the infrastructure conditions do not allow the countries of Central Europe to have alternative sources of oil. This is why Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were exempted from the corresponding sanctions. Lukoil currently accounts for a third of Hungarian and even 45% of Slovakian oil imports. It is deeply strange that a country that is pushing for accession to the Community wants to cause serious difficulties for two members of this very Community.
His Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba had assured him by phone on Sunday that Kiev would of course allow all oil transports to pass through the country – and he was certainly not telling the truth, because Lukoil deliveries have been interrupted for weeks now. This means that Ukraine is undoubtedly violating the Association Agreement with the EU, in which Kiev guaranteed the smooth transit of energy sources to EU members from Russian sources. The EU Commission now has the duty to immediately represent Hungary and Slovakia in the proceedings that have been initiated. If consultations do not bring about a solution within three days, an arbitration tribunal has 40 days to conduct proceedings. As a result, the EU could also abandon its obligations, for which Szijjártó cited the exemption from customs duties for products from Ukraine as an example. Of course, both countries affected are working in parallel to ensure security of supply.
Stab in the back of the helpers
Given the brazen position taken by Kyiv on the matter, Szijjártó did not hold back any longer with information that a significant part of Ukraine’s energy supply is provided by Hungary and Slovakia. In June, Ukraine imported 42% of its electricity from Hungary. “It is not the world champions of phrase-mongering, but Hungary, which they tirelessly and incessantly accuse, that is helping Ukraine to keep its energy systems running in these difficult times,” Szijjártó noted. Not to mention the efforts of Hungarian grid operators to connect Ukraine to the European electricity network.
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