BELGRADE, Serbia
Hungary on Friday accused Ukraine of blackmailing it by preventing Russian oil from transiting through its territory.
In a press conference in Budapest, Gergely Gulyas, head of the Office of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said Ukraine is blackmailing Hungary and Slovakia that “advocate peace and a cease-fire.”
Earlier on Monday, Hungary and Slovakia jointly initiated a European Union consultation procedure against Ukraine in response to Kyiv’s decision to halt Russian oil company Lukoil’s crude oil transits.
Gulyas said this posed a serious danger to the energy security of Hungary and Slovakia.
According to Gulyas, “a solution must be found by September,” or else “Hungary will begin to experience an oil shortage.”
“One is that Ukrainians admit they can’t do this to two EU countries… Another is that the European Commission helps us, and the third is that we find a legal loophole that allows the oil to be transferred by someone not affected by the sanctions,” he explained.
However, he assured the public that there is no need to worry because Hungarian oil reserves are plentiful.
Earlier last week, Slovakia and Hungary said they had stopped receiving oil from key supplier Lukoil after Ukraine imposed a ban last month on the transit of resources from the Russian energy company through its territory.
Hungary receives 2 million metric tons of oil from the Russian group each year, accounting for roughly a third of its total oil imports.
Separately, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said his country will not be a “hostage” in Ukraine-Russia relations.
Despite EU sanctions against Russia, landlocked Hungary and Slovakia continue to receive natural gas and oil through Ukraine.
