BUDAPEST: The Foreign minister of Hungary on Tuesday warned that Budapest will block European Union refunds for member countries that gave arms to Ukraine until Kyiv allows the oil transit from Russia’s Lukoil.
Hungary and Slovakia earlier this month said that they had stopped receiving oil from Lukoil through the Druzhba pipeline after Ukraine placed a ban on the transit of resources from Lukoil.
“As long as this issue is not resolved by Ukraine, everyone should forget about the payment of the 6.5 billion euros of the European Peace Facility compensation for arms transfers,” Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
Ukraine says it has blocked oil from Lukoil but overall flows have not been cut through the pipeline.
The Druzhba, or “friendship”, oil pipeline connecting Russia to former Soviet states in eastern Europe has remained operational through more than two years of war, even as the EU weaned itself off most other sources of Russian energy supplies. Hungary in particular has been dependent on Russian oil and says it cannot supply its refineries without it.
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Hungary and Slovakia on Monday asked the European Commission to mediate a consultation procedure with Ukraine. The procedure would allow them to take the matter to court unless the EU body acts within three days.
The European Peace Facility (EPF), signed in 2021, operates as a cashback scheme giving EU members refunds for sending munitions to other states.
Since Russia’s war against Ukraine in 2022, member countries that gave weapons to Ukraine can ask for compensation from this fund. But Hungary has been blocking the disbursement of the next tranche of EPF money noting various issues for more than a year.
