The European Commission has welcomed a joint Hungarian-Slovak proposal to send a fact-finding mission to inspect the damaged section of the Druzhba pipeline but said key details remain unclear and no timetable has been set for repairs.
Transit of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia was halted after a pumping station in Ukraine was damaged, allegedly struck by a Russian drone on January 27. The disruption has since escalated into a wider political dispute within the EU.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has vetoed a €90 billion EU loan package for Kyiv, blaming Ukraine for the stoppage. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claims that there is a technical obstacle to restarting the pipeline. According to Slovakia and Hungary, the oil transit was blocked for political reasons only.
In letters to EU leaders, Orbán proposed a joint mission with Slovak experts to verify the pipeline’s condition.
Commission energy spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen described the initiative as “a welcome step” and confirmed Brussels was in contact with Ukrainian authorities. “We need to take the next steps to see what shape and form this fact-finding mission will take,” she said, adding the Commission does not rule out participating if Kyiv agrees.
