Hungary FM: Hungary, Slovakia Turn to Croatia to Secure Russian Oil Deliveries

Hungary and Slovakia have formally turned to Croatia to ensure the continued delivery of Russian crude oil, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto announced. Hungary’s energy security, he emphasized, cannot be treated as an ideological issue.

Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Photo: AFP)

In a statement posted Sunday on Facebook, Szijjarto explained that since Ukraine has still not restarted oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline, Hungary and Slovakia are seeking to secure shipments via the Adriatic pipeline instead. Slovakia has reinforced Hungary’s position that the suspension of deliveries is due to Ukraine’s actions.

Slovakia's Economy Minister Denisa Sakova and Hungary's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto turn to Croatia (Photo: Anadolu via AFP)

Szijjarto noted that Hungary and Slovakia had previously secured an exemption allowing them to continue purchasing affordable Russian crude through the Druzhba pipeline. That sanctions waiver also provides that if pipeline transit becomes impossible, the two countries may procure Russian oil by sea.

Since the Ukrainians, for political reasons, are still not restarting oil transport through the Druzhba pipeline, today Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova and I sent a joint letter to Croatian Economy Minister Ante Susnjar, requesting that Croatia, in accordance with Brussels regulations, immediately enable the transport of Russian crude oil to Hungary and Slovakia via the Adriatic pipeline

Szijjarto stated.

No country’s energy security—including ours—can be an ideological matter. We therefore expect the Croatians, unlike Ukraine, to refrain from endangering the security of Hungary’s and Slovakia’s oil supply for political reasons,

he added.

Cover photo: Peter Szijjarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Photo: AFP)