Hungary's prime minister said on Wednesday that Budapest would phase out gas deliveries to Ukraine, the latest broadside in a bitter dispute between the two countries over a damaged pipeline carrying Russian oil.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country is a major gas supplier to Ukraine, has accused Kyiv of delaying repairs to the pipeline, effectively halting the flow of Russian oil to Hungary and its neighbour Slovakia.
"To break the oil blockade and guarantee the security of Hungary's energy supply, new measures are now necessary," Orban said in a video posted on Facebook.
"We are gradually halting gas shipments from Hungary to Ukraine and storing the remaining gas here domestically. Until Ukraine supplies oil, it will receive no gas from Hungary," he added.
Ukrainian authorities have said the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline, which crosses its territory, was damaged by Russian airstrikes on 27 January.
Hungary and Slovakia, which have obtained exemptions from the European Union to continue purchasing Russian oil, accuse Kyiv of dragging its feet over repairs.
In retaliation, Orban, who faces crucial parliamentary elections next month, is blocking a European loan of €90 billion to Ukraine.
Last week, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU would help reopen the Druzhba pipeline.
April elections
Orban is using the Druzhba controversy in his campaign ahead of parliamentary elections on 12 April, which will determine whether he can retain his mandate as prime minister.
His campaign centres on "peace versus war" rhetoric. Under that narrative, Orban's Fidesz party, in government, guarantees cheap Russian crude, while a pro-Ukraine opposition would drag Budapest into a protracted conflict by actively supporting Kyiv and scaling down relations with Moscow.
In recent speeches, Orban has warned that a Tisza opposition victory would end "cheap Russian energy," while painting rival Péter Magyar as a lackey of Brussels.
Orban dominates Hungary's media landscape, with Fidesz loyalists controlling some 80 to 90 per cent of public and private media outlets, which broadcast his messages uncritically. Public television and radio insist that Fidesz alone shields households from soaring bills, while blaming EU sanctions on Russia and Ukrainian "blackmail" for endangering the country's energy price cap.
Yet Magyar's Tisza party, polling eight to 12 points ahead, counters by promising "peace" while pursuing deeper EU reintegration.
Magyar pledges that no Hungarian troops will be sent to Ukraine, while maintaining what he describes as "pragmatic" ties with Russia. He also prioritises unlocking frozen EU funds through rule-of-law reforms, and accuses Orban of institutionalised corruption that has cost the country billions. In February, Transparency International ranked Hungary as the most corrupt EU member state for the fourth consecutive year.
On energy, Tisza points to alternatives, accusing Fidesz of fostering a needless dependence on Moscow.
Pipelines
Yet should Tisza win the elections, a daunting task awaits. Hungary is heavily reliant on Russian energy: 92 per cent of its crude arrives via the Druzhba pipeline, up from 61 per cent before 2022, while Russia supplies 80 per cent of the country's gas despite repeated EU calls for Hungary to diversify away from Moscow.
Pipeline dispute shows Central Europe’s struggle to cut ties with Russian oil
But Hungary is landlocked, and its refineries are adjusted to Russian (Ural) oil, making short-term switches costly. Alternatives do exist: the Adria pipeline from Croatia’s Omisalj terminal offers Iraqi, Saudi or Azerbaijani crude, with could fully meet Hungary’s full energy needs, albeit that transit fees are five times higher than Druzhba’s.
LNG terminals in Croatia and Greece, as well as the domestic (party Russian) Paks nuclear power plant) and renewable sources, could cut Hungary’s fossil dependence in the long term, but Fidesz has tightened the Moscow-connection through long-term contracts.
Russian missile strikes
Meanwhile, Ukraine claims that on 27 January a Russian missile struck its Brody pumping station on the Druzhba pipeline, a crucially important transit point for Russian oil flowing towards Hungary, igniting a 25,000-cubic-metre oil reservoir and wrecking internal sensors.
According to Ukraine's defence ministry, the attack was part of more than 400 strikes launched on Ukrainian energy facilities since the start of the war in early 2022.
Naftogaz, Ukraine's state-owned oil company, shared satellite imagery and debris with 31 ambassadors, including Hungary's, but Kyiv appears reluctant to carry out repairs in an active war zone.
At the EU summit, Orban dismissed the evidence and described the situation as "a deliberate blockade," using Kyiv's reluctance to repair the pipeline to justify his veto: "No oil, no money." On the eve of the summit, the EU offered technical assistance and reaffirmed existing exemptions, but was unable to compel Kyiv to restart flows.
EU summit fails to rally Orban behind stalled Ukraine loan
The attack on the Druzhba pipeline took place two years after explosions that rendered the undersea Nord Stream 2 pipeline unusable.
Investigation by the German police found traces of a yacht linked to a pro-Ukrainian team, resulting in an arrest warrant for a diver, but no trial took ever place, and the US Russia and Poland deny any involvment. Druzhba shows overt fire damage from claimed aerial strikes, with Ukrainian documentation but no independent forensics.
(with newswires)
