On Friday, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto held telephone talks with European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis on the situation arising from the blockade of oil deliveries introduced by Ukraine without any prior consultation.
"The conversation made it clear that we do not have the same view on the nature of the Ukrainian decision and its consequences," the minister wrote on social media.
He stressed that the position of the Hungarian government is clear: the European Commission should not allow a candidate country to mess with two EU member states, endangering their energy supply security.
Ukraine's decision has put two member states in a precarious situation, which is not exactly acceptable behavior on the part of a candidate country. This move has put a third of Hungary's oil imports from the east at risk, and this ratio is almost 45 percent in the case of Slovakia, Peter Szijjarto said.
In our view, Ukraine's measure violates the EU-Ukraine association agreement,
the minister of foreign affairs and trade highlighted. Peter Szijjarto said that he informed the commission vice-president that, based on Hungary's experience gained so far, Croatia is an unreliable transit country for Hungary, given that after the outbreak of the war, Croatia raised transit fees to many times the European market average, did not allow long-term capacity booking, and it is not clear exactly how much oil the pipeline passing through Croatia can transport.
In light of this, Ukraine's decision to restrict transit is likely to expose Hungary and Slovakia to various business and political interests, and therefore we continue to expect the European Commission to act in Hungary's and Slovakia's interests,
the minister of foreign affairs and trade pointed out.
The detailed information requested by the commission was made available to the body this morning and the vice-president and I agreed to remain in constant working contact in order to resolve the situation as soon as possible,
Peter Szijjarto said.
Cover photo: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto at the public media center in Brussels on July 22, 2024 (Photo: MTI/Boglarka Bodnar)
