Hungary Threatens to Halt Electricity and Gas Exports to Ukraine

On February 19th local time, Hungarian Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, Gulyás Georgy, stated that if Ukraine continues to block oil shipments to Hungary via the “Friendship” pipeline, Hungary will take further retaliatory measures, and is currently considering halting electricity and gas exports to Ukraine.

Gergey stated that Ukraine’s actions are “unacceptable” and violate its commitments to the European Union. Furthermore, he revealed that Hungary has released its strategic oil reserves, enough to sustain the country for three months.

Recently, Hungary and Slovakia have expressed dissatisfaction with the disruption of Russian oil shipments through Ukraine, blaming Ukraine for the disruption.

The “Friendship” pipeline is a large pipeline network that transports crude oil from Russia to Central and Eastern Europe. It originates in the Samara Oblast of southwestern Russia, with its northern route passing through Belarus to Poland and Germany, and its southern route passing through Ukraine to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.