Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski sparked outrage on Wednesday with incendiary comments on X, where he appeared to endorse the idea of attacking the Druzhba oil pipeline—a vital energy supply route for Hungary and Slovakia.
Sikorski referenced the recent Polish court decision to not only not extradite the Ukrainian man suspected of blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline, but also let him walk free after the trial and wrote on X:
I am proud of the Polish court which ruled that sabotaging an invader is no crime. Moreover, I hope your brave compatriot, Major Magyar, finally succeeds in knocking out the oil pipeline that feeds Putin’s war machine and you get your oil via Croatia.
Hungarian officials denounced the statement as reckless and hostile toward an allied nation. Balázs Orbán, political director to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said such remarks go beyond acceptable political discourse, writing on X:
The Polish FM is hoping that the Ukrainians will be able to blow up the Druzhba oil pipeline, which ensures Hungary’s energy supply. This is the darkest depth of war hysteria. While [Radosław Sikorski] may strive to nullify Polish-Hungarian relations, I would like to remind him that our nations share a historical friendship, and we are allied countries.
The controversy comes exactly two months after the Druzhba pipeline was damaged by Ukrainian drone strikes on August 22nd, when a pumping station in Unecha was hit—the third such incident that month. The attacks caused a temporary disruption in oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia.
Slovak and Hungarian authorities have since confirmed that the flow of oil through the pipeline has been fully restored. Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Saková emphasized the importance of energy stability, stating, “I hope that operations will remain stable and that there will be no more attacks on energy infrastructure that affect not only us, but also other Central European countries.”
Hungarian oil company MOL also confirmed that the line is back in service after repairs were completed in six days. The interruption did not require the release of strategic reserves. Following the attack, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced that Hungary had banned the commander of the Ukrainian unit responsible for the strike from entering the country and the Schengen Area. Since then, MOL has experienced another breakdown, a large fire that broke out in one of their facilities. Suspiciously, the timing of this incident closely aligned with an explosion at another oil facility in Romania. Officials are not yet excluding the possibility of a targeted attack.
In this context, Sikorski’s remarks appear especially irresponsible. Publicly wishing for renewed attacks on vital energy infrastructure risks undermining regional stability and endangering the security of EU and NATO allies. Hungary depends on the Druzhba pipeline for much of its energy supply, and further damage would harm not only Hungary but also Slovakia and other Central European states.
