Hungary will not stop supplying electricity to Ukraine: Szijjártó said that Hungarians also live on other side of border
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that the suspension of electricity exports would primarily affect Transcarpathia, where Hungarians also live, so "special caution" is needed in this matter.
According to Censor.NET, citing European Truth, he said this in a video address following a meeting of the government's energy council, which convened on Sunday to discuss the suspension of Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline.
Hungarians also live on the other side of the border
"Today, we also considered issues related to electricity supplies. After all, almost half of Ukraine's electricity imports come from Hungary. However, we have come to the conclusion that we need to act with particular caution in this matter, as Hungarians also live on the other side of the border, and the cessation of electricity exports will primarily affect Transcarpathia, creating particular problems, challenges and suffering for those families living on the other side of the border," he said.
Hungary's dispute with President Zelenskyy
Szijjártó noted that "our dispute is not with the people who live in Ukraine, not with the families who live in Ukraine. Our dispute is with the Ukrainian state, with the Ukrainian government, with President Zelenskyy."
What preceded this?
Recall that on the eve of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán threatened to cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine if oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline was not resumed.
- On 27 January, Russian occupation forces struck a critical infrastructure facility belonging to the Naftogaz group in western Ukraine. The target of the attack was likely Ukraine's largest oil pumping station, located in Brody, which supplies the southern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline.
- The prime ministers of Hungary and Slovakia, Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico, accused Ukraine of delaying the restoration of the oil pipeline due to "political motives," and on 18 February, the authorities of these two countries announced the suspension of oil product exports to Ukraine in response to Ukraine's suspension of Russian oil transit.
- In addition, Fico warned that Slovakia would also review its support for Ukraine's European integration and could suspend electricity supplies.
- At the same time, Hungary received permission to import Russian oil via an alternative sea route through Croatia, with further transportation via oil pipeline.
