- According to Fico, Zelenskyj refuses to send an inspection team to Druzhba.
- Prime Minister Fico claims that Ukraine is blocking the restoration of oil transit.
- Fico accuses the EU of prioritizing the interests of Ukraine over Slovakia and Hungary.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi refuses, according to the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Roberta Fica (Smer-SD) request for the opportunity to send an inspection team to determine the actual state of damage to the Druzhba oil pipeline in Ukraine. According to Fico, Zelenskyy is not interested in restoring oil transit. He stated this in a video on the social network.
“President Zelenskyi insists that the oil pipeline is damaged on the territory of Ukraine, we have completely different information, but when we ask the president to send an inspection team to find out the real situation, he flatly refuses. This is how he rejected it even in the phone call I had with him yesterday,” emphasized Fico.
The prime minister of the Slovak Republic declared that he has no problem meeting with the Ukrainian president, while the date and place are being sought. “But today it is clear above all else that the Ukrainian president is not interested in restoring the transit of oil to which we are entitled, for which we are properly paid, and which, according to the decision of the EU authorities, we can take even in 2027,” he added.
According to Fico, the EU authorities prioritize the national interests of Ukraine over the national interests of member countries such as Slovakia or Hungary. “The EU did not help us in any way when President Zelensky stopped gas transit and damaged us in such a way that we lose 500 million euros annually in transit fees. So far, we do not feel any support even for another hostile decision by the Ukrainian president to cut off oil supplies to Slovakia and Hungary, which is incredibly damaging to us,” he added.
Slovak Prime Minister Fico and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared on Friday (February 27) that they will propose the establishment of an inspection group to examine the damage to the Druzhba pipeline in Ukraine. It should be composed of representatives of Slovakia and Hungary, as well as representatives of the European Commission. According to Ukraine, oil supplies to Slovakia and Hungary stopped as a result of the Russian attack on the Druzhba pipeline on January 27.
