BUDAPEST - Hungarian Foreign and Trade Minister Péter Szijjártó on Tuesday criticised the European Commission's response to the disruption of oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline and called for an immediate resumption of supplies.

Szijjártó said that Hungary and Slovakia have been facing what he described as an „oil blockade“ from Ukraine for almost 50 days and rejected the claim that it was merely a technical problem.

According to him, the situation is the result of coordinated political action involving Kiev and Brussels. He called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to „stop the theatre“ and resume the pipeline without delay.

According to him, the Druzhba pipeline is fully operational and capable of supplying oil to Hungary. He added that Hungary had taken steps to mitigate the impact of the disruption, including increasing stocks, securing alternative maritime supplies and strengthening regional energy cooperation, particularly with Slovakia and Serbia.

His statement came in response to a joint statement by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa, who said the EU had offered Ukraine technical support and funding in connection with the disruption of the pipeline.

„In this sense, the European Commission will continue to work with stakeholders on alternative routes for the transit of non-Russian oil to Central and Eastern European countries.“ the statement said.

The supply disruption has become part of wider tensions between Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine in recent weeks. Hungary has criticised the halt in oil transit, while banning gasoline and diesel exports to Ukraine and blocking approval of a €90 billion ($104 billion) EU aid package for Ukraine.

Xinhua/gnews.com - GH