Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy openly threatened Hungary’s energy security over the weekend, stating that the fate of the Druzhba oil pipeline—a key route for Russian oil to Europe—now depends entirely on Budapest’s position regarding Kyiv’s fast-track European Union accession.
During a press conference marking Ukraine’s Independence Day on 23 August, Zelenskyy responded to a question about whether Ukrainian drone strikes on the Druzhba pipeline could have influenced Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s position on Kyiv’s EU bid—which Orbán is currently blocking as the only EU leader among the 27 member states. According to Zelenskyy, Kyiv ‘has repeatedly demonstrated’ its readiness for dialogue and compromise regarding its relations with Budapest, but any prospects for a ‘reset’ now rest on Hungary’s shoulders. ‘We have always supported friendship between Ukraine and Hungary, and now the existence of friendship depends on Hungary,’ the Ukrainian president stressed.
How Zelenskyy’s administration ‘supported’ friendship between the two countries raises further questions—particularly in light of Kyiv’s restrictions on the rights of Transcarpathian Hungarians—but the president’s statement in itself is outrageous. It effectively implies that Ukraine will continue threatening Hungary’s energy security by striking Druzhba until Orbán lifts his veto on Ukraine’s EU accession.
However, it is not only Hungarian energy security at stake: Slovakia also imports a significant share of its oil supplies from Russia via Druzhba. On Friday, Budapest and Bratislava issued a joint call on the European Commission to intervene on behalf of member states, citing a 27 January statement in which the Commission had recognized that safeguarding energy infrastructure is an EU security issue and promised measures to protect oil and gas pipelines, power lines, and related facilities. Hungary and Slovakia expressed disappointment that these commitments have yet to translate into tangible protective action.
Responding to the concerns, Brussels said that both Hungary and Slovakia maintain emergency oil reserves designed to cover at least 90 days of net imports; therefore, their energy security is not in danger—and Ukraine can continue its strikes on the pipeline.
Prime Minister Orbán also wrote a letter to US President Donald Trump complaining about the recent Ukrainian strikes on Druzhba. In his reply, Trump condemned the attacks and assured Orbán of his support. ‘You are my great friend,’ the US president concluded.
Reacting to Zelenskyy’s threat, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó called on Ukraine to ‘stop threatening Hungary and to end the reckless attacks on our energy security!’ In a post on X, Szijjártó underlined that ‘a war to which Hungary has nothing to do with can never justify violating our sovereignty.’
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha was quick to respond to Szijjártó’s post, writing: ‘You don’t need to tell the Ukrainian President what to do or say, and when. He is the President of Ukraine, not Hungary.’ He further urged Hungary to ‘diversify and become independent from Russia.’
Szijjártó immediately reacted by reiterating calls to ‘stop attacking’ Hungary’s energy security.
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