The European Commission has received an official complaint from the governments of Hungary and Slovakia regarding the halt of Russian oil supplies to these countries. The reason for this was the recent strikes on the Druzhba pipeline, which temporarily suspended oil deliveries.
This is reported by Finway
The European Commission’s position on the situation
The European Commission emphasized that it is closely monitoring the developments and is in constant contact with the governments of Hungary and Slovakia to clarify all circumstances and ensure the protection of critical energy infrastructure in EU member states. EC representatives highlighted that they have the necessary tools to respond to sudden disruptions or oil shortages, but reminded that each European Union country is obliged to independently maintain strategic oil reserves for 90 days, according to the EU directive from 2009.
“Slovakia and Hungary maintain the necessary levels of emergency oil reserves and can release these reserves to the market in case of an emergency. So far, the Commission has not received reports of reserves being released by Slovakia or Hungary,” the European Commission clarified.
Additionally, the EC noted that they currently do not see a threat to the energy security of the European Union due to the cessation of operations of the Druzhba pipeline.
Circumstances of the attack on the pipeline
On the night of August 13, Ukrainian military intelligence attacked the “Unecha” oil pumping station in the Bryansk region of Russia with kamikaze drones. This facility is a key node in the Druzhba pipeline network and supports the logistics of the Russian army. In response to these events, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated that Ukraine’s actions harm the energy security of his country. He emphasized that Hungary is not involved in the war and threatened Kyiv with a power cut, noting that his country is one of the main electricity suppliers for Ukraine.
On the night of August 18, Ukrainian forces struck again at the “Nikolskoe” oil pumping station in the Tambov region of Russia, leading to a large fire and a complete halt of oil pumping through the Druzhba pipeline. However, oil supplies were restored the following day, which was officially acknowledged in Hungary.