Menczer: Those who strive for peace get blackmailed

Non-EU Ukraine is threatening the energy security of two EU member states, Hungary and Slovakia, notwithstanding the EU association agreement Ukraine is bound by, the ruling party official said, adding that the European Commission, as the guardian of the treaties, should take action to protect member states and make sure countries such as Ukraine uphold the agreement.

Yet Brussels was doing very little about it, and it was even possible that the commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, had suggested the oil blockade, he said.

“We’ll use all means at our disposal to defend ourselves,” he said, noting regulatory and legal tools, a consultation procedure or arbitration as possible avenues.

Menczer also referred to “technical possibilities”, adding that Hungarian oil and gas company MOL “is obviously investigating these”.

He said Hungary had no intention of blackmailing Ukraine. “The contracts and agreements that we enter into are something we want to stick to,” he said. At the same time, he warned that much of the energy that Ukraine receives “passes through Hungary”.