Hungarian government slams Brussels: ‘The Commission has become Ukraine’s commission’

The European Commission “is shooting itself in the foot” by staying silent and complicit in connection with Ukraine’s attacks the Druzhba oil pipeline, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister said on Tuesday, adding that the pipeline was of “crucial importance for the energy supply of Hungary and Slovakia”.

Speaking on the “Fight Hour” podcast, Szijjártó said President Volodymyr Zelensky had “openly, crudely, and shamelessly threatened” Hungary by making clear that if Budapest did not adopt a pro-Ukrainian position as demanded by Brussels, the European People’s Party and its Hungarian member party, the Tisza Party, the Druzhba pipeline would be kept under attack.

He insisted that Ukraine was pursuing an anti-Hungarian policy, and Kyiv expected “Brussels and its local representatives in Hungary” to pressure Hungary into abandoning its current position and adopt a position “that is completely contrary to Hungarian interests but aligns with Ukrainian interests”.

Hungary normally receives oil from Russia via the Druzhba pipeline and from Croatia via the Adria pipeline, he said, but the capacity of the latter was “insufficient”.

Disruptions to Druzhba render Hungary and Slovakia’s supplies “physically impossible”, he said. “Energy supply is not a political or ideological issue,” he said, adding that the bombing and missile attacks on the Druzhba pipeline “do not harm Russia, but Hungarians and Slovaks”.

Zelensky’s statement last week, he said, was “outrageous”, and it was “sad” that the opposition and the “dollar media” in Hungary were celebrating it. “It’s clear there is collusion” between Ukraine and Hungary’s opposition, he added. “When the Ukrainians speak, the Hungarian dollar-media echoes it immediately…”

The minister said the European Commission had said in January that it was ready to take steps to ensure the security of infrastructure critical to the energy supply of member states. “The European Commission is shooting itself in the foot when it remains silent in a complicit and guilty way while Ukraine attacks the energy infrastructure in the direction of Hungary and Slovakia. The European Commission … is now the Ukrainian commission, because [EC President Ursula] von der Leyen’s commission does not represent the interests of the European Union, let alone the interests of the EU member states…”

The government, he noted, has started expanding oil pipeline capacity in Croatia, but Zagreb was not cooperating and increasing transit fees instead, while the EC sat on the sidelines.

“The previous Croatian energy minister told me to my face that as long as there are various disputed issues between Hungary and Croatia on the energy front … they are not willing to help us in this matter,” he said. “So much for European solidarity, so much for how diversification is supposed to work.”

Hungary, Szijjártó noted, provides 30-40 percent of Ukraine’s electricity imports, so the government could make things difficult, though “we do not want to harm Ukrainian people or families; we are better than that.”

“It would be good for the Ukrainians to remember this when they are deciding at various planning tables whether or not to bomb the Druzhba pipeline. This should be in their minds.”

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