Hungary and Slovakia threaten to cut off electricity imports to Ukraine unless it resumes oil transit from Russia, amid escalating tensions between the nations.
According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Hungary and Slovakia are making demands and pressuring Ukraine, threatening to terminate energy connections if Ukraine does not reopen the transit of Russian oil. The countries continue to import a substantial amount of Russian oil through a pipeline traversing Ukraine, which Hungary and Slovakia claim was disrupted by Ukraine in January. Ukraine, however, asserts that the oil pipeline was damaged during a Russian drone strike at the end of January.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on Saturday that Hungary would halt electricity exports to Ukraine if the Druzhba pipeline is not reopened. He accuses Ukraine of attempting to create economic chaos and an energy crisis in Hungary as the nation prepares for parliamentary elections in April. Orban’s Fidesz party faces a precarious position in these elections. He claimed, “Ukrainians believe that chaos could pave the way for opposition victories in the elections.”
Hungary plays a critical role as an electricity supplier to Ukraine, having provided 50% of Ukraine’s electricity in February alone. The increasingly strained relations between Hungary, Slovakia, and Ukraine highlight the fragile nature of energy dependencies and the geopolitical tensions that arise from them, especially in the context of the ongoing conflict involving Russia and Ukraine.
