Hungary and Slovakia’s efforts to involve the EU in a dispute with Ukraine over Russian oil have failed, with the European Commission blocking their request to urge Kyiv to lift sanctions on Russian oil company Lukoil.
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The Financial Times writes about this.
At yesterday’s meeting of trade representatives of member states, none of the 11 countries sided with Budapest and Bratislava.
Hungary and Slovakia are threatening to sue Kiev because Ukraine tightened sanctions against Lukoil in June, effectively stopping the transit of Russian oil to Europe through its territory.
Politicians in Budapest and Bratislava have turned to the European Union for help.
While most EU countries are reducing their dependence on Russian oil, Hungary gets 70% of its raw materials from Moscow, and Slovakia is even more dependent on it.
Hungary and Slovakia note that Ukraine also depends on Budapest and Bratislava.
Bratislava threatened Kyiv that it would take “retaliatory measures” due to the termination of the transit of oil from the Russian company Lukoil.
Slovakian President Peter Pellegrini criticized Ukraine’s refusal to transport Russian oil, while Defense Minister Robert Kalinyak said Ukraine was “risking a lot.”
Pellegrini recalled that Slovakia helped Ukraine with gas reverse flow and is helping with electricity supply.
If the situation does not improve, we will have to react, he said, adding that Slovakia does not deserve such treatment from Ukraine.
Last week, Ukraine stopped the transit of oil from the Russian company Lukoil through the Druzhba pipeline after Kiev added the company to Ukraine’s sanctions list.
The restrictions only apply to oil supplies from Lukoil due to the strengthening of Ukrainian sanctions. Supplies of other Russian oil to Slovakia have not been stopped, the Slovak Ministry of Economy claims.
The cessation of supplies will affect the operation of the Bratislava oil refinery Slovneft.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said his country would block payments of 6.5 billion euros from the European Peace Fund for arms supplies to Ukraine until the problem with the transit of Lukoil oil is resolved.
I made it clear that until Ukraine resolves this issue, everyone should forget about paying 6.5 billion euros in compensation for the transfer of weapons from the European Peace Fund, because what would it look like if we contributed to the payment of 6.5 billion euros? It threatens the security of our energy supply, Szijjártó said in an interview with ATV.
According to Szijjarto, the European Commission should put pressure on Kyiv to allow Lukoil to resume oil supplies through Ukrainian territory.
Source: Racurs
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