Brussels has told Hungary and Slovakia to wean themselves off Russian oil and seek alternative sources after they complained that Ukraine was blocking supplies from Russia.
In a letter to Budapest and Bratislava seen by the Financial Times, EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said that “diversification away from Russian fossil fuels should be actively pursued”.
The Hungarian and Slovak governments had asked the commission to intervene in their dispute with Ukraine after Kyiv placed sanctions on Russian energy company Lukoil.
Since they rely on Russian crude flowing through Ukraine via the Druzhba pipeline, which is also used by Lukoil, Hungary and Slovakia said the move threatened fuel shortages.
But a commission spokesperson said on Thursday the countries had enough supplies since the overall flow had not diminished. “The urgent consultations” the two countries demanded, under the EU’s trade deal with Ukraine, were not needed.
Hungary and Slovakia were granted exemptions to an EU-wide ban on Russian oil imports following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 because of what they said were no available alternatives.
But Dombrovskis said they could use an existing pipeline bringing shipborne crude from Croatia.
“The commission’s current analysis points to an adequate capacity for Hungary and Slovakia via alternative pipelines such as the Janaf Adriatic pipeline.”
He added that at a meeting last week to discuss the issue by representatives of all member states “a significant number . . . questioned why Hungary and Slovakia had apparently not yet explored alternatives so far”.
He said that MOL, the Hungarian energy company, had “set out in formal letters that Lukoil was indeed not the owner of the oil transported through Ukraine for the MOL group”, meaning that the supplies coming via Druzhba were not affected by Kyiv’s sanctions.
Dombrovskis met Denys Shmyhal, the Ukrainian prime minister, in Brussels on Thursday and was told enough oil was still flowing through Druzhba.
MOL has long-term contracts with Russian suppliers. Crude from Russia only accounted for 3 per cent of demand in the bloc, the commission said.
Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó this week accused the commission of “blackmail”, saying it persecuted the two countries because of their opposition to arming Ukraine.
Szijjarto said perhaps it was “Brussels, not Kyiv, that invented the whole thing . . . that wanted to blackmail two pro-peace countries that reject arms transfers”.
Slovakia said it would provide additional information to the commission. “As long as the unblocking of oil supplies is not resolved in any way, we still consider the situation to be serious and threatening Slovakia’s energy security,” it added.
Relations between Hungary and Brussels have worsened in the past month after Budapest took on the rotating presidency of the EU. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow allegedly to broker peace in Ukraine, prompting outcry from fellow EU leaders who said he did not represent them.
The commission is withholding billions in EU funds from Hungary because of concerns over the rule of law. Orbán is preventing other member states getting repaid by the EU for some of the arms they have sent to Ukraine.
Slovakia, which had a recent change of government with Orbán ally Robert Fico becoming prime minister last year, has threatened action against Ukraine.
Slovakia has not yet commented while a spokesperson for the Hungarian government has not yet responded to a request for comment.
(Financial Times, August 1, 2024)
