Hungary, Slovakia spar with Ukraine over Druzhba pipeline | EUROtoday

Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine are within the midst of an indignant spat over a key pipeline that provides Russian crude to Central Europe.

Shipments by the Druzhba pipeline have stalled because the finish of January.

While Ukraine blames a Russian drone strike for the disruption, Hungary and Slovakia slam Kyiv for the extended outage.

What to know concerning the pipeline?

The Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline carries Russian crude by Belarus and Ukraine and into Central Europe.

Opened in 1964, it is without doubt one of the largest oil pipelines on the planet, connecting West Siberian oil fields to main refineries in Europe.

The pipeline has capability to pump greater than 2 million barrels per day however has been delivering solely a fraction of it as most European nations turned away from Russian fossil fuels since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The Druzhba pipeline splits into two legs with the larger, northern one going to Poland and Germany, whereas the southern leg provides Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

How a lot do Hungary and Slovakia depend on Russian oil?

Hungary and Slovakia are among the many final remaining prospects of Russian oil throughout the European Unionafter different nations weaned off their dependence and diversified their provides over the previous 4 years.

The Druzhba serves as the first conduit for Russian crude deliveries to the 2 landlocked nations.

They each maintain exemptions to EU sanctions on Russian piped oil.

Their governments, that are considered as essentially the most Russia-friendly within the EU, have fiercely opposed EU strikes to finish these flows.

Budapest and Bratislava have additionally elevated their dependency on Russian vitality deliveries, counting on Moscow for 86-100% of their oil provide.

Russian crude deliveries through the Druzhba’s southern part stood at 9.7 million metric tons final 12 months, with Slovakia receiving 4.9 million and Hungary some 4.35 million, Reuters information company reported, quoting Ukrainian consultancy ExPro.

A report printed in May 2025 by the Center for the Study of Democracy and the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), estimates that Hungary and Slovakia had paid Russia near €5.4 billion ($6.36 billion) for crude oil deliveries alone because the begin of the full-scale battle.

What do Hungary and Slovakia accuse Ukraine of?

Oil deliveries by the Druzhba have remained reduce off since January 27, when, in keeping with Ukraine, a Russian drone strike broken the pipeline.

Ukrainian officers say restore work is underway.

But Hungary and Slovakia blame Ukraine for the extended outage.

They accuse Kyiv of intentionally blocking provides by the pipeline for political causes.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban described the oil provide disruption as a “Ukrainian oil blockade” and alleged that it is geared toward driving up gasoline costs in his nation forward of the parliamentary elections scheduled for April 12.

Orban claimed with out offering proof that Ukraine was enthusiastic about him dropping the vote.

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, in the meantime, stated the stalled oil provide was a “purely political decision aimed at blackmailing Slovakia over its international positions on the war in Ukraine.”

He threatened that Slovakia would halt emergency electrical energy provides to Ukraine till Kyiv reopens the Druzhba.

Amid the dispute, Hungary on Monday vetoed an enormous €90 billion ($106.11 billion) EU mortgage to Ukraine and blocked a brand new spherical of sanctions on Russia. The transfer was sharply condemned by Ukraine and EU leaders.

What’s Ukraine’s place on the problem?

Ukraine has lengthy argued that continued purchases of Russian vitality by Hungary and Slovakia assist finance Russia’s battle in opposition to Ukraine.

But Kyiv denies any accountability for the Druzhba outage, saying Budapest and Bratislava ought to deal with their complaints to Moscow.

Ukraine has additionally slammed what it described as “ultimatums and blackmail” by its two Central European neighbors, and stated they’re “playing into the hands of the aggressor.”

“Statements from Budapest and Bratislava are provocative, irresponsible, and threaten the energy security of the entire region,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated.

Are there any alternate options to the Druzhba pipeline?

Ukraine has proposed different ​transit routes to ship oil to ⁠Europe till the deliveries by the Druzhba resume.

Reuters reported that ​the Ukrainian mission to the EU proposed shipments by Ukraine’s ​oil transportation system or a maritime route, probably together with the Odesa-Brody pipeline linking Ukraine’s principal Black Sea port ​to the EU.

The Adria pipeline — which runs from Croatia’s Adriatic coast to inland Central Europe — additionally presents another. While Hungary’s Orban argues the Adria is barely appropriate as a backup, his Slovakian counterpart Fico says the pipeline’s capability had by no means been examined, and the fee could possibly be 5 instances larger than for the Druzhba.

The CREA report, nonetheless, states that phasing out Russian oil is “fully feasible” for Hungary and Slovakia, and that the Adria pipeline “can meet their combined needs.”

Edited by: Ashutosh Pandey