EU Assures Hungary and Slovakia Face No Immediate Oil Supply Risk Despite Druzhba Pipeline Disruption

Brussels. The European Union (EU) stated on Wednesday that Hungary and Slovakia do not face an immediate risk of petroleum product shortages despite the current disruption to Russian supplies via the 'Druzhba pipeline'.

“Alternative sources have arranged supplies for them,” an EU spokesperson said following a meeting of experts to discuss the situation.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, one of the EU leaders close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has used his 'veto power' to block a new round of sanctions against Russia unless Kyiv reopens a major oil pipeline, alongside blocking a €90 billion ($106 billion) EU loan to Ukraine.

He accused Ukraine of deliberately stalling work on the pipeline. Kyiv stated in January that the pipeline was damaged by the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that repairs are not yet complete.

He suggested Budapest raise this issue with Moscow and said, “The pipeline has been bombed many times as part of the air campaign against Ukraine's infrastructure. This has damaged the pipeline and made immediate operation difficult.”

Hungary and Slovakia have been forced to draw on emergency oil reserves, which are limited to three months of imports. “They have the Adria pipeline via Croatia and other sources of supply,” said European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen after the experts' meeting.

“Croatia confirmed in the meeting that non-Russian crude oil is being transported to Hungary and Slovakia via the Adria pipeline,” she said.

“This has become the main alternative pipeline for Hungary and Slovakia to meet their needs, and the pipeline has sufficient capacity to increase volumes to fully meet Hungarian-Slovakian needs.”

She added, “High-level talks are ongoing on what can be done to persuade Hungary to lift its veto on the EU loan to Ukraine.”

Despite Budapest's opposition, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen stated on Tuesday that the European Union would secure the loan amount in some form. “We have various options, and we will use them,” she said.