Szijjártó noted that it had been more than one week since Hungary and Slovakia had asked the European Commission to take measures against Ukraine because of the stoppage that put the countries’ energy security at risk.
He suggested the EC was either “so weak” it couldn’t stand up for the fundamental interests of two member states against a country with candidate status, or the idea of “blackmailing” the two “pro-peace, anti-weapons deliveries” countries had originated in Brussels, not Kyiv.
“The European Commission and President Ursula von der Leyen, personally, need to own up immediately: Did Brussels ask for the oil deliveries prohibition from Kyiv? And if not, then why has the European Commission not taken any steps for over a week?” Szijjártó asked.
On Monday, the Hungarian minister spoke by phone with his Slovakian counterpart, Juraj Blanar, and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, on the matter.
Meanwhile, according to a report by Politico, the requests from Hungary and Slovakia has “put the EU in a bind”, as EU officials know they must go by the book and have done so, issuing statements saying they are reviewing the facts and exploring options.
But behind the scenes, and in discussions among EU diplomats, there is considerable frustration that this problem is even on Brussels’ agenda. Everyone else in the EU has found ways to get off Russian oil, several diplomats fumed; it’s not their problem Hungary and Slovakia used a sanctions carveout to keep pumping in Russian crude, Politico’s report noted.
“Many EU members took costly but necessary efforts to get rid from dependence on Russian gas and oil […] mainly because it stinks of blood,” one unnamed diplomat told Politico.
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