A major shift in tone in Brussels suggests that even Kyiv’s most staunch backers—who grasp almost any opportunity to criticise Viktor Orbán’s administration—now believe Ukraine must restore Russian oil transit to Hungary and Slovakia via the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline.
The final blow to Volodymyr Zelensky, who claimed damage was done in a Russian drone attack and that repairs would be too dangerous, came when Budapest said on Monday that satellite images and “operational information” proved “there is no technical obstacle to restarting” the line.
Top Brussels officials late last month scolded Hungary when it announced it was blocking a €90 billion EU loan package for Ukraine until this dispute was resolved, insisting that European taxpayer money would make its way to Kyiv one way or another.
But even they must have been surprised when Zelensky’s team “denied” a request by Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president António Costa to access the Druzhba pipeline and independently assess the alleged damage during a recent visit, according to the Financial Times.
Now, using language that would have seemed extreme just a week ago, a “senior EU diplomat” has told the paper that Kyiv had scored an “own goal,” adding:
We cannot say if there is damage or not. There are very easy ways to document it and show they are working hard to repair it. They haven’t done it.
The Commission also said on Tuesday that “our priority remains the security of supply of our member states”—a significant reversal.
Balázs Orbán, the Hungarian PM’s political director, said these statements amounted to Budapest being “fully vindicated—AGAIN.”
While the Brussels elite lined up behind Kyiv and dismissed Hungary’s warnings, the facts now emerging … confirm it: the Druzhba shutdown is political blackmail, not technical damage.
Viktor Orbán also wrote directly to VDL on Tuesday, calling on the Commission to “support Hungary in neutralising the energy weapon used by Ukraine,” and stressing that “until Ukraine returns to normality, I am not in a position to support any decision in the European Union that favours Ukraine.”
We will not give in to President @ZelenskyyUa’s blackmail❗️
Today, I called on President @vonderleyen to enforce the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which obliges Ukraine to allow oil shipments to Hungary.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
