EU cannot prioritise Ukraine’s interests over those of Slovakia or Hungary, — Fico

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico stated in a conversation with European Council President António Costa that the European Union "cannot prioritize Ukraine's interests" over those of Slovakia or Hungary.

He wrote about this on the social media platform X, according to Censor.NET.

Statement by Fico

On Monday, March 16, Fico held a 45-minute conversation with Costa. He thanked the President of the European Council for the fact that a significant portion of the conversation was devoted to "the issue of resuming operations of the 'Druzhba' oil pipeline on Ukrainian territory."

"In a conversation with European Council President Costa, I emphasized that the EU cannot prioritize Ukraine's interests over those of EU member states such as Slovakia or Hungary," Fico said.

About Ukraine

The politician asserts that the Slovak government cannot agree to the "unilateral and harmful move taken by the President of Ukraine" aimed at "halting oil transit."

According to Fico, Slovakia expects that "EU institutions will pressure the Ukrainian leadership to resume Russian oil supplies, to which we are entitled until the end of 2027".

"I also expressed my dissatisfaction with the fact that the European Commission has yet to put forward any concrete proposals for lowering electricity prices, despite repeated requests from EU prime ministers and heads of state," he added.

Russia's attack on the Druzhba oil pipeline

On January 7, a piece of infrastructure was damaged in Brody, Lviv region, as a result of a Russian attack. Naftogaz reported that the Russian military had attacked a critical infrastructure facility in western Ukraine. A fire broke out, and operations at the facility were halted.
According to the publication Enkorr, the facility in question is located in the city of Brody in the Lviv region and is connected to the Druzhba oil pipeline.
On February 12, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline had been suspended since January 27 due to a Russian attack. He also said that Budapest was preparing to lodge a complaint regarding transit issues.
The governments of Hungary and Slovakia have announced a suspension of diesel fuel exports to Ukraine until Russian oil supplies resume via the Druzhba pipeline.
On March 11, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that a group of Hungarian citizens had entered Ukrainian territory without official status or scheduled official meetings.
President Zelenskyy stated that he is unaware of what the Hungarian delegation is doing in Ukraine.
Subsequently, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó accused Zelenskyy of lying and published a Hungarian diplomatic note indicating that Budapest had requested a meeting between Cepec and Ukrainian Minister Denys Shmyhal.
At the same time, the Foreign Ministry's note indicates that the Hungarian side did not coordinate its delegation's visit to the Druzhba oil pipeline with Ukraine and received proposals from Kyiv regarding alternative dates for the visit.