On Tuesday 17 March, the Presidents of the European Council, António Costa, and the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that Ukraine had accepted the EU’s offer of technical and financial support to repair and rehabilitate the Druzhba oil pipeline, damaged by Russian strikes at the end of January. This pipeline supplied oil to Hungary and Slovakia.
“European experts are available immediately”, announced the two Presidents in a press release. A senior official said that the EU delegation in Ukraine was in contact, or would soon be in contact, with Naftogaz on the next steps regarding the repairs.
In his letter of response to the European leaders, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, promised that his country would make every effort to repair the damage and restore operations. Ukraine had initially announced that the repair work would take four to six weeks.
Asked whether European funds were going to be used to repair this pipeline, damaged by the Russians to bring oil to Hungary and Slovakia, which are not participating in the €90 billion loan, a senior official pointed out that the two countries had the right to import this oil until the end of 2027 and that, at the same time, allocating funds to repair this pipeline was not the top priority of Ukraine, which is under constant attack from Russia. No amount has been given.
In their letter to Mr Zelensky, Mrs von der Leyen and Mr Costa hoped that “EU assistance could pave the way for overcoming the current blockage and ensure for the rapid repair of the pipeline”. “This would allow to move forward in a timely manner with the EU Ukraine Support Loan funding for your own macro-economic stability and for the purchase of defence equipment, as well as the final adoption of the 20th package of sanctions”, they added.
Because of the disruption to the flow of oil, Hungary is blocking the adoption of the €90 billion loan and, along with Slovakia, the adoption of the 20th package of sanctions against Russia.
On Tuesday, a senior European official explained that the loan had been agreed by the 27 Heads of State or Government of the EU Member States at the December European Council and that the commitment made had to be honoured. The subject is due to be raised at the European Council on 19 March, but does not need to be renegotiated, said this source.
“With regard to the loan, discussions are continuing and we hope to see progress soon. Ideally, this would be before the European Council”, explained European Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho.
In response to the announcement by the Presidents, the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó, said that “after nearly 50 days, the European Commission has noticed that two Member States are under an oil blockade by Ukraine and are now promising to resolve the situation”.
“Don’t be fooled. This is a political game. Every step has been coordinated between Kyiv and Brussels”, he explained, calling on Mrs von der Leyen and Mr Zelensky to “stop this political theatre”. “The oil blockade against Hungary must be lifted immediately”, pleaded the Minister.
See the letter from the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission: https://aeur.eu/f/l81 ; and the Ukrainian President: https://aeur.eu/f/l80 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)