Ukraine strikes EU-bound oil pipeline
Druzhba is one of the world's longest networks, transporting crude some 4,000km from Russia and Kazakhstan to refineries in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
Szijjarto wrote in a post on X on Monday that 'this latest strike against our energy security is outrageous and unacceptable.'
Moscow has informed Budapest that Russian experts are working to restore the 'essential' transformer station targeted by the strike, the minister said. However, it is not yet clear when deliveries of oil through the pipeline could resume, he added.
The diplomat reiterated that the Ukraine conflict is 'not our war' and that 'as long as we [Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government] are in charge, Hungary will stay out of it.'
Unlike most other EU capitals, which supported Kiev after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Budapest took a neutral stance and refused to supply weapons to the government of Vladimir Zelensky. It also consistently called for peace and criticized Western sanctions against Russia as ineffective and more harmful to those who impose them.
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