Fidesz MEPs call on EC to stand up against Ukraine’s ‘political blackmail’

Based on official Ukrainian statements, the country’ decision to stop delivering crude to Hungary and Slovakia was an attempt to strong-arm those countries into changing their pro-peace stance on the war, the letter said.

At the end of July, Ukraine ramped up its sanctions on Russian oil company Lukoil, and stopped deliveries of Russian crude to Slovakia and Hungary through the Druzhba pipeline as a result.

Deutsch and Gal called on the EC to take the necessary steps so that Ukraine scraps the “unacceptable and unlawful” measures that gravely endangered the energy security of the countries, which were lacking alternative routes to purchase oil. At the same time, they said the step also ran afoul of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement’s regulations on transit deliveries.

It was especially concerning that certain Ukrainian statements had shown that the measure was aiming to force Hungary and Slovakia to change its pro-peace stance, and so Ukrainian sources “have essentially admitted this was political blackmail”, they said.

In such a situation, the EC should be protecting the interests of member states “as a matter of fact”, and “should force the third country to follow the law”, the letter said. The European Commission’s steps, however, had been “inadequate, even permissive in the face of Ukraine’s blackmail”, they said.