Budapest argues it’s facing an energy crunch after Kyiv imposed a partial ban on Moscow’s oil transiting the country.
Budapest argues it’s facing an energy crunch after Kyiv imposed a partial ban on Moscow’s oil transiting the country.
Hungary on Monday said it had asked the European Union to take action against Ukraine for imposing a partial ban on Russian oil exports, arguing the move was jeopardizing Budapest’s energy security.
Kyiv last month adopted sanctions blocking the transit to Central Europe of pipeline crude sold by Moscow’s largest private oil firm, Lukoil, sparking fears of supply shortages in Budapest. Hungary relies on Moscow for 70 percent of its oil imports — and on Lukoil for half that amount.
“Ukraine's decision fundamentally threatens the security of supply in Hungary,” the country’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said Monday at a meeting of EU envoys in Brussels. “This is an unacceptable step on the part of Ukraine, a country that wants to be a member of the European Union, and with a single decision puts the oil supply …. in fundamental danger.”
Crazy how the bureaucratic machine just keeps on chugging even when entire cities are being demolished by missiles and artillery. I'm sure it had something to do with maintaining relations with the countries relying on it too, but still. I assume they were even still being paid by Russia to allow the oil through, as part of whatever deal they had.
Why just one? Have every single other EU nation just veto it one after the other. Everything after the first one is just performance, it would be really fun to drive the needle in just a little bit deeper every time.
BRUSSELS — Hungary on Monday said it had asked the European Union to take action against Ukraine for imposing a partial ban on Russian oil exports, arguing the move was jeopardizing Budapest’s energy security.
Kyiv last month adopted sanctions blocking the transit to Central Europe of pipeline crude sold by Moscow’s largest private oil firm, Lukoil, sparking fears of supply shortages in Budapest.
The escalating diplomatic spat comes as ties between Ukraine and Hungary hit rock-bottom, with Kyiv last week lashing out at Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán for meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin within a self-styled “peace mission.”
The ban means the country's central Slovnaft refinery would “receive 40 percent less oil than it needs,” Fico said, arguing it would also reduce Slovak fuel exports to Ukraine that make up a 10th of Kyiv's consumption.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU banned imports of Russian oil arriving at the bloc by sea, but allowed landlocked countries like Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to continue buying supplies via the Russia-to-Europe Druzhba pipeline until they could find an alternative solution.
But Budapest, which has angered Ukraine by holding up EU sanctions against Russia and has stalled Kyiv’s attempts to join the bloc, hasn't tried to find other options, said Isaac Levy, an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air think tank.
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I would be surprised if the EU members have no fuel left to share. Hungarian Fidesz knows this, so this is either a very bad PR campaign for their dictatorship ("the EU is about to get us") or a deliberate attack on Ukraine and EU foreign policy.
Obviously, the EU hasn't the spine to eject Hungary, so Putin's Ally/Representative in the EU will remain disabling the EU's strategy, in all ways possible..
I wonder how many extra thousands of EU troops will die in the escalations of Russia's aggression, through the next decade(s), as a result of their current-spinelessness?
( remember the English appeasers of Hitler helped the Nazis, & remember that Stalin was providing supplies to the Nazis right up until the day they invaded Russia. Having spine enough to do what is correct/proper isn't common-enough )
Well the EU as a whole got severely fucked by the sanctions mean to cripple Russia's economy, so Hungary should shut up and take it as a sign of solidarity.