Ending Russian oil transit to Hungary is a hostile act by Kyiv, Orbán wrote

Brussels, Feb. 23 (CTK) - Ukraine’s suspension of Russian oil transit to Hungary is an unprovoked act of hostility that undermines Hungary’s energy security. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote this in a letter today to European Council President António Costa. Orbán said it had prompted him to reconsider his previous position on the EU loan for Ukraine, which Budapest is now blocking.

At the EU summit in December, Hungary had supported the loan after receiving assurances that, like Czechia and Slovakia, it would not have to guarantee it.

“Since mid-February, Ukraine has refused for political reasons to transport oil through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary, in breach of its international commitments,” Orbán said in the letter, which CTK has seen.

“As long as this remains the case, Hungary will not support the amendment to the regulation on the multiannual financial framework required to use the budget reserve to establish the loan,” he added.

EU member state presidents and prime ministers approved a 90 billion euro loan for Kyiv for 2026 and 2027 after failing to agree at the December summit on financing that would use frozen Russian assets. The EU will borrow the money for the loan to Ukraine on the financial markets, backed by a reserve in the EU budget. Ukraine will then be responsible for repaying the loan once it receives war reparations from Russia.

Two-thirds of the funding, or 60 billion euros, is intended to cover Ukraine’s defence and military spending, while 30 billion euros is intended to support the Ukrainian budget so the country can make progress on reforms and modernisation. The entire EU was originally expected to guarantee the loan, but Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary announced that they would not participate in the guarantees. Czechia was represented at the summit by its new prime minister, Andrej Babiš. “We said before the election that we would not send money to Ukraine, that we need the money in Czechia,” he said after the summit.

Three legislative proposals are linked to the loan: a proposal to amend the regulation on the multiannual financial framework for 2021 to 2027, a regulation on enhanced cooperation to establish the loan, and an amendment to the regulation establishing the Ukraine Facility. The European Parliament approved all three on Feb. 11, following approval by the member states’ ambassadors to the European Union on Feb. 4. Formal approval by the member states was then due to follow, but at this stage Hungary began blocking approval of one of the texts. The first regulation must be adopted unanimously, while a qualified majority is sufficient for the other two.

Without approval of the loan, Ukraine risks running out of the funds it needs as early as April.

Ukraine says the oil transit was interrupted because of Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure, a claim also disputed by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Budapest and Bratislava accuse Ukraine of political blackmail, as Budapest opposes Ukraine’s accession to the EU. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced over the weekend that Hungary would also block the 20th package of anti-Russian sanctions being prepared by the European Union unless Ukraine resumes transit.