A new clash between the European Commission and Hungary, joined this time by Slovakia, the other EU country closer to Russia than to Ukraine. The governments of Budapest and Bratislava have been asking the Commission for several days to mediate with kyiv so that the Ukrainian sanctions against the Russian oil company Lukoil do not affect their oil supply through the pipeline that crosses the invaded country. But so far, for Brussels “there is no sign that there is an immediate risk to the security of supply” of either country, said a spokesperson for the EU Executive on Thursday. This conclusion leads it to reject the request of the two Member States to get involved in the matter.
Last May, Ukraine sanctioned the Russian oil company Lukoil, which was still allowed to export crude oil via the pipeline to EU countries such as Hungary and Slovakia, both bordering Ukraine. This was one of the exceptions that the 27 countries allowed when they imposed a ban on buying Russian oil. Sea purchases were banned, but the arrival of Urals crude oil was allowed via pipelines such as the Druzhba pipeline, which crosses Ukraine. The aim was for the exception to be temporary so that the dependence of these landlocked countries – also Austria and the Czech Republic – and therefore with more difficulties in finding alternative suppliers, would find solutions.
With kyiv’s decision, this search becomes more necessary and, in fact, Brussels points to the alternatives available to the pro-Russian governments of Hungary and Slovakia. “There is a possibility [para ellos] “The Commission is planning to increase imports from the Janaf pipeline via Croatia,” said a Commission spokesman. Behind these words is what other sources in the Brussels government say: since the sanctions on Russian crude were approved, these countries have made few efforts to reduce their dependence on this raw material and have even increased it by using the refineries installed to produce diesel fuel and sell it in the area, thus making money.
The European Commission’s decision not to intervene for now is a snub, first and foremost, to Budapest, which has been very demanding. “It has been more than a week since we, together with Slovakia, took the initiative to ask the European Commission to take action against Ukraine over its oil embargo. More than a week has passed and the European Commission has done nothing. Despite the threat to the energy security of two EU Member States, despite the very clear violation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, Brussels is silent,” said Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Tuesday, in words that then went on to speculate that “it was the Commission – and not Kiev – that wanted to blackmail two pro-peace countries that reject arms transfers.”
Hungary and Slovakia are the two EU countries closest to the Kremlin at the moment, although their tactics are very different. Orbán has chosen to keep a high profile with his self-proclaimed “peace mission”, travelling to Moscow and Beijing, and visiting Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, on a tour that has irritated the vast majority of EU countries by undermining the position of EU foreign policy. Robert Fico, the Slovak prime minister, who suffered an attempted assassination a couple of months ago, has chosen discretion, at least, in his moves within the Union when it comes to foreign policy.
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