Ukraine stops Lukoil transit, Hungary and Slovakia rise up

Brussels -Ukraine shut down the transit of Russian crude oil pumped by state company Lukoil, causing an upstir in Hungary and Slovakia. The two EU countries are serious and ready for all legal options. “Together with Slovakia, we have started consultations with the European Commission before proceedings in the selected court,” said Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó. 

Kyiv’s choice is serious, impacting Ukraine’s EU accession process. “This is an unacceptable and incomprehensible move from a country that wants to become a member of the European Union,” insists the foreign minister in Budapest. The government of Volodymir Zelensky “with a single decision puts the oil supply of two EU member states at fundamental risk,” he said. Ukraine’s decision not to allow Lukoil to transit oil supplies through Ukrainian soil “represents a fundamental threat to the security of energy supplies to Hungary and Slovakia,” he added.

❌FM Péter Szijjártó: Ukraine’s decision to not allow Lukoil to transit oil supplies through Ukraine poses a fundamental threat to the security of energy supplies to Hungary and Slovakia.

This is an unacceptable and incomprehensible move by a country that wants to become a… pic.twitter.com/Q6dLAthQv5

— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) July 22, 2024

The issue is indeed thorny, as in Viktor Orban’s government, people are beginning to reprimand Kyiv after what Hungary has done so far. Szijjártó recalled that 42 percent of Ukrainian electricity imports came from Hungary in June. Also, the company operating the Hungarian electricity grid “is making serious efforts to help Ukraine connect to the European grid,” and “Slovakia and Hungary, in addition to Poland, have been quick in helping Ukraine with the operation of its energy system.”

Hungary’s reprimand and weighing in on what it has done so far indicates how palpable the tension around the table is. But from the Hungarian point of view, Ukraine’s decision is “unexpected and hostile.” Energy risks putting everything back on the table at a time when Hungary’s European partners called for unity and not unilateral ‘appeasement’ visits. Euro-Hungarian frictions are only growing. After Orban’s peace missions to Moscow, Ukraine again is at the center of these new frictions.