Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho told reporters in Brussels the European Council had already agreed the loan to Ukraine on the condition that three member states – Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia – would not participate financially in the program.
“That condition has been met, therefore we expect that now all leaders will keep their commitments,” she said, adding that a failure to do so would be “a clear violation of the principle of loyal cooperation.”
Budapest announced on Friday it would block the loan if Ukraine did not resume the flow of Russian crude through the Druzhba (“Friendship”) pipeline. The line, which until last month carried Russian oil via Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia, was halted after what Ukrainian authorities said was Russian damage to the infrastructure at the end of January.
Although Kyiv said repairs had begun, Hungary and Slovakia accused Ukraine of deliberately blocking flows.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in Brussels there were no “technical or physical reasons” for Ukraine not to restart transit and accused Kyiv of blackmail.
“Until Ukraine resumes oil supplies to Hungary, we do not intend to support either the loan for Ukraine or the 20th package of sanctions against Russia,” he said, accusing Ukraine of “playing with Hungary’s energy security.”
“Threats to our energy supply are an attack on our sovereignty,” Szijjarto added, noting that Hungary had supported 19 previous sanctions rounds but would now be “very determined”.
He called Ukraine’s move “purely political” and aimed at forcing a change in Budapest’s stance on Kyiv, including over EU membership. He also accused Ukrainian authorities of coordinating anti-government actions with the Hungarian opposition ahead of parliamentary elections and claimed the European Commission was siding with Ukraine over a member state.
“It is shocking that the Commission, instead of supporting a member state, supports a non-EU state. There is no European Commission in Brussels, there is a Ukrainian Commission,” he said.
Pipeline row and EU energy response
EU energy spokeswoman Ana Kaisa Itkonen said Russia had destroyed the Druzhba pipeline section and recalled that Ukraine had committed to repair it, but stressed that decisions on the repair timetable lay with Kyiv.
She said the Commission’s priority was the energy security of member states and announced an extraordinary meeting of the oil coordination group on Feb. 25 to review the situation.
EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday had the 20th sanctions package against Russia on their agenda. The measures had been slated for adoption on Tuesday, Feb. 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but the vetoes by Hungary and Slovakia prevented agreement on the final text.
Kyiv says EU must not be held ‘hostage’
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said Hungary and Slovakia should not block decisions affecting the entire bloc.
“Hungary and Slovakia cannot take the whole European Union hostage,” he wrote on social media, responding to the lack of consensus on the sanctions package. He said their ultimatums should be directed “exclusively at the Kremlin, not at European partners”.
Sybiha thanked the EU and European partners for support which, he said, had helped defend not only Ukraine but also Europe’s core values of justice, truth and freedom. Russia had tried to intimidate and divide Europe but instead encountered “unprecedented unity and a new European strength that is rearming and developing,” he added.
He said Ukraine was ready to work for peace and called for greater European involvement in peace efforts while underlining the leading role of the United States.
“We still do not see willingness from Russia to end the war or take serious steps toward peace and we call for increased pressure on Moscow,” he said.
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Source: Polish Radio, PAP