BUDAPEST —
Hungary said it will block a planned €90 billion European Union loan to Ukraine until Russian crude resumes flowing to Hungary through the Druzhba pipeline, a route Kyiv shut after January strikes inside Ukraine damaged oil infrastructure. In a video message posted Friday, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó accused Ukraine of coercion and vowed to withhold Budapest’s consent on EU measures benefiting Kyiv until the transit restarts. (apnews.com)
“We will not give in to this blackmail. We do not support Ukraine’s war, we will not pay for it,”
Szijjártó said, adding: “As long as Ukraine blocks the resumption of oil supplies to Hungary, Hungary will block European Union decisions that are important and favorable for Ukraine.” Hungary and Slovakia have alleged, without providing evidence, that Kyiv is intentionally holding up the restart; Ukrainian officials say Russian attacks on 27 January struck facilities tied to the line near Brody in Lviv region. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/83ee301ec3f84fb823f936d49067c0f9?utm_source=openai))
The southern branch of the Soviet-era Druzhba system is the main crude artery for landlocked Hungary and Slovakia. Since 27 January, flows across Ukrainian territory toward both countries have been halted following reported Russian drone strikes; Hungary and Slovakia responded this week by suspending diesel exports to Ukraine to conserve supplies. On Saturday, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico warned he would order a halt to emergency electricity exports to Ukraine if oil transit is not restored by Monday, 23 February. (apnews.com)
EU financing plan meets a veto threat
The loan Hungary is threatening to hold up is the EU’s central financial backstop for Ukraine for 2026–2027. Agreed in principle by leaders on 18 December 2025 and approved by the European Parliament last week, the package is to be financed by joint EU borrowing and backed by the EU budget. Under the Council’s position, repayment would begin only once Russia pays war reparations to Ukraine, framing the facility as a bridge until longer-term reconstruction funding is secured. Final Council adoption is still required for first disbursement planned in early Q2 2026.
Diplomats say much of the legal framework is being advanced through “enhanced cooperation” among 24 member states, insulating participating capitals from financial liabilities for holdout countries. But Budapest can still obstruct a key own-resources and budget-related element that requires unanimity under the EU treaties, giving Hungary leverage even though it opted out of backing the debt itself. The dispute once again exposes how a single government can use the bloc’s consensus rules on budget and foreign policy to tie a national energy dispute to EU‑wide decisions on wartime support for Ukraine.
The proposed facility would sit alongside existing macro‑financial assistance rules and the EU’s common budget framework, and would rely on guarantees anchored in the Union’s founding legal order, including the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, as interpreted and implemented through the EU’s multiannual budget and own‑resources regulations.
Druzhba’s southern branch: a wartime choke point
Built in the 1960s, Druzhba (“Friendship”) is among the world’s longest oil pipelines, with its southern branch feeding Slovakia and Hungary via Ukraine. The Brody hub in western Ukraine connects Druzhba to the Odesa–Brody line; Ukrainian media and local authorities reported fires and air-quality alerts around Brody after the 27 January strike, the first publicly reported hit on Druzhba-linked infrastructure inside Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion. Operators along the route include UkrTransNafta in Ukraine, Transpetrol in Slovakia and MOL in Hungary. ([pravda.com.ua](https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/01/27/8018108/?utm_source=openai))
Hungary’s MOL Group runs two refineries with roughly 290,000 barrels per day of capacity across Hungary and Slovakia and has been upgrading units to process more non‑Russian grades. MOL says full independence from Russian crude via the alternative Adria (JANAF) route from Croatia will not be feasible before 2026, leaving both refineries highly exposed to prolonged Druzhba outages and giving Budapest a domestic economic rationale for tying energy flows to its stance in Brussels. (spglobal.com)
Escalating tit-for-tat across Central Europe
Budapest announced on Wednesday, 18 February, it was suspending diesel deliveries to Ukraine until crude transit resumes; Bratislava followed the same day, with Fico stating that all Slovnaft refinery output would be reserved for the Slovak market. Slovakia also declared a state of oil emergency and released 250,000 tonnes from strategic reserves to bridge supply gaps while arranging seaborne deliveries via Croatia’s Adria pipeline. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/7f075973bd1fea8de33b72a5823e8774))
From Kyiv’s perspective, the loss of Hungarian‑Slovak diesel volumes is manageable in the short term: industry trackers estimate the route accounted for about 11% of Ukraine’s diesel imports in January, and alternative sourcing via Poland and Greece has grown since late 2025. Nonetheless, Fico’s ultimatum on emergency power trade would hit a different, more fragile part of Ukraine’s wartime energy system, which relies on cross‑border electricity exchanges to stabilize the grid after repeated Russian strikes. For EU partners, the emerging energy stand‑off risks spilling into broader debates over solidarity, sanctions implementation and the limits of national emergency measures inside the single market. ([pravda.com.ua](https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/02/18/8021636/?utm_source=openai))
Energy dependence at odds with EU policy
While most EU states phased out Russian oil after the bloc’s 2022 embargo on seaborne imports, pipeline deliveries were temporarily exempted for countries with acute dependence. That exemption no longer applies to Germany, Poland (as of June 2023) or Czechia (as of July 2025) but continues for Hungary and Slovakia, making them the last EU members still importing Russian crude by pipeline. ([consilium.europa.eu](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/06/03/russia-s-aggression-against-ukraine-eu-adopts-sixth-package-of-sanctions/?utm_source=openai))
Independent analysis indicates Hungary’s reliance on Russian crude rose to around 86% by 2024, even as the rest of the EU cut sharply. That dependence underpins Budapest’s argument that rapid diversification would trigger “immediate economic collapse,” a claim many energy experts contest, noting available—if costlier—alternatives through Adria. The standoff therefore sits at the intersection of EU sanctions policy, member‑state energy security strategies and long‑running tensions over whether Hungary is using its veto power to defend vital national interests or to slow the bloc’s collective response to Russia’s war. (osw.waw.pl)
Key dates and decisions
- 27 January 2026 — Reported Russian strikes damage oil infrastructure near Brody, halting Druzhba flows to Slovakia and Hungary.
- 18 February 2026 — Hungary suspends diesel exports to Ukraine; Slovakia follows and declares an oil emergency, releasing 250,000 tonnes from reserves.
- 18 December 2025 / 6 February 2026 — EU leaders endorse a €90 billion loan for 2026–2027; Parliament approves the legal package; Council action still pending for Q2 disbursement.
- 21 February 2026 — Hungary threatens to veto the loan until oil transit resumes; Slovakia warns it will stop emergency power exports on Monday, 23 February, if flows remain halted.
([pravda.com.ua](https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/01/27/8018108/?utm_source=openai))
As of Saturday, 21 February 2026, crude shipments on Druzhba’s southern branch to Hungary and Slovakia remain suspended, the EU Council has not yet completed final adoption of the Ukraine loan framework, and Slovakia’s deadline on emergency electricity exports to Ukraine is set for Monday, 23 February. (apnews.com)