- The European Union plans to redirect Hungarian oil supplies through Croatia.
- Merz expects a decision on the Hungarian oil pipeline in Cyprus in two weeks.
- The German chancellor demands that the new Hungary stop seeking political closeness with Russia.
The European Union will propose to the new Hungarian government to use the pipeline passing through Croatia instead of the Russian Druzhba pipeline for oil supplies. This was announced on Tuesday by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin. TASR informs about it based on the report of the TASS agency.
“For my part, I can confirm that we will discuss the situation in two weeks in Cyprus at an informal EU summit. Hungary has already been proposed to use the oil pipeline that runs through Croatia,” he said Merz and reminded that “this proposal was not accepted by the previous Hungarian government”.
“I hope that a lot will change now in this regard as well, and that Hungary will no longer seek closeness with Russia, but will try to take as many decisions as possible together with us at the European level,” added the chancellor. The elections in Hungary “will also have consequences for our support for Ukraine,” emphasized Merz, who, according to his words, now expects the quick provision of a loan to Ukraine in the amount of 90 billion euros, as well as the adoption of a new package of sanctions against Russia.
The loan for Ukraine caused sharp disagreements between Budapest and Brussels, as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government has blocked the EU’s final decision on the issue in response to the suspension of Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline. Deliveries along this route to Hungary have not flown since January 27. Kiev claims that the cause is Russian attacks that damaged an oil pipeline in western Ukraine.
Orbán’s government insists that the pipeline is operational and that Ukraine refuses to resume transit for purely political reasons. In the elections in Hungary on Sunday (April 12), the opposition party Tisza won convincingly. Jej leader Péter Magyar declared that he will work to restore Hungary’s full membership in the EU and NATO.
