Hungary and Slovakia are stepping up pressure on Ukraine over energy. The dispute over oil transit and energy supplies is now blocking important European Union decisions and opening a new chapter of tensions between Kiev and some Central European states.
Hungary has vetoed the adoption of the EU's twentieth package of anti-Russian sanctions and a plan to provide a €90 billion military loan to Ukraine. This was announced by the Hungarian foreign minister after a meeting of EU ministers in Brussels Péter Szijjártó, who justified the decision on the grounds of his country's energy security.
„I have made it clear that we will not support a military loan to Ukraine because the Ukrainians are blackmailing us,“ Szijjártó told Hungarian M1 television, adding that Budapest believes Kiev is cooperating with Brussels and the Hungarian opposition and is threatening the security of Hungary's energy sector.
According to the head of Hungarian diplomacy, the main reason for the dispute is the stoppage of oil transit through the pipeline Company. „That is our current position. That is why neither the sanctions package nor the Ukrainian loan was adopted today.“ The minister stressed that Hungary's position could only change once oil supplies to the country were restored.
The Hungarian government has previously warned that it will block any EU decision in favour of Ukraine until transit is restored. The energy issue has thus become a key instrument of political pressure within the EU.
Meanwhile, Slovakia has also announced a similar move. Prime Minister Robert Fico said Bratislava had stopped emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine. This measure will be lifted as soon as Ukraine resumes oil transit to Slovakia.
The Slovak prime minister also threatened Kiev with further retaliatory measures, but did not specify their specific form. Bratislava thus links energy aid to the resolution of the oil dispute, as does Budapest.
The current situation shows the growing tension between the EU's solidarity with Ukraine and the energy interests of individual Member States. The dispute over the transit of oil is turning not only into an economic problem, but also into a major political issue that may affect the future direction of European support for Kiev and the unity of the EU in approving sanctions against Russia.
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