Budapest Refuses to Back Sanctions Without Oil
Hungary has made it clear it will not support the European Union’s latest sanctions package against Russia unless oil deliveries to the country are restored. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after meeting the Energy Security Council that no further EU financial assistance to Ukraine — including a €90 billion war loan — should proceed while Hungary’s oil supply remains cut off.
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó confirmed that Budapest will block the 20th sanctions package at the upcoming meeting of EU foreign ministers. He argued that Ukraine must first repair the Druzhba pipeline, reportedly damaged in a Russian strike, and resume oil shipments to Hungary.
Orbán also said a suspended diesel delivery service would not be restarted under current conditions.
Electricity Supplies Add to the Standoff
The dispute also touches on electricity exports. Nearly half of Ukraine’s imported electricity comes from Hungary, and Szijjártó warned that any decision to halt supplies would affect both Hungarian citizens and ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region. He said this requires “particular caution.”
Slovakia has signaled similar frustration. Prime Minister Robert Fico said that if oil flows to Slovakia are not restored, he would ask the national electricity operator to stop emergency power deliveries to Ukraine. Oil shipments to both Hungary and Slovakia were halted at the end of January, with Kyiv attributing the disruption to a Russian drone attack on the Druzhba pipeline.
Kyiv Fires Back at ‘Ultimatums’
Ukraine has strongly rejected what it calls pressure tactics from Hungary and Slovakia. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry accused both governments of issuing “ultimatums and blackmail” at a time when Russian missile and drone strikes have severely damaged Ukraine’s energy grid during one of the coldest winters in years.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, most European countries have sharply reduced or stopped importing Russian energy. Hungary and Slovakia, however, secured temporary exemptions from the EU’s ban on Russian oil and have continued — and in some cases increased — their imports.
Orbán, widely regarded as the EU leader with the closest ties to the Kremlin, has consistently argued that Russian fossil fuels are essential to Hungary’s economy and that cutting them off abruptly would cause serious economic harm — a view some experts contest. He has repeatedly threatened to block EU sanctions targeting Moscow’s energy revenues and has previously vetoed or delayed military and financial support for Ukraine.
