Orbán "betrayed" agreements regarding Ukraine, - Orpo

Orpo harshly criticized Orbán over Ukraine

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is using Ukraine as a political tool and has violated EU agreements.

According to Censor.NET, citing Ukrinform, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo made this statement before the start of the meeting of EU leaders at the European Council in Brussels.

"Orbán is using Ukraine as a weapon in his election campaign. This is not good. We had an agreement. And I think he has betrayed us. We must find a way forward. And now I call on Ukraine and the Commission to find a solution to the pipeline issue. But the most important question is how we will secure funding and money for Ukraine," Orpo said, adding that he is awaiting proposals from the Commission.

He emphasized, however, that pressure on Russia must continue for now, as it is the main beneficiary of the crisis in the Middle East.

"We need to understand who benefits most from this chaos and the rising energy prices. It is Russia. And that is precisely why we must continue to put pressure on Russia and continue to provide strong support to Ukraine. They are fighting for us. They are waging this battle every day," Orpo emphasized.

What happened before?

It was previously reported that the European Commission is seeking to provide Ukraine with a loan of 90 billion euros, despite opposition from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Consequently, efforts are underway to find a way to override his veto, as Ukraine is set to run out of money in March. At the same time, European leaders are reluctant to put pressure on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during the election campaign.
Earlier, European Commission President von der Leyen and European Council President Costa sent a letter to Zelenskyy in which they offered Ukraine technical and financial assistance to resume oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline.
Zelenskyy told EU leaders that it will take about a month and a half to restore transit through the Druzhba pipeline following the Russian strikes.

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.