Share and Follow
Hungary is posing a significant challenge to a proposed European Union financial aid package for Ukraine, valued at approximately 90 billion euros, or around $106 billion. The country is threatening to veto the plan unless the flow of oil through the Druzhba pipeline, a crucial energy conduit, is reinstated.
In a recent post on the social media platform X, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó expressed his country’s firm stance. He declared that Hungary would not support the EU’s financial initiative for Ukraine until oil shipments through the pipeline, which has connections to Russia, are back on track.
Szijjártó accused Ukraine of deliberately disrupting oil transit in collaboration with Brussels and the Hungarian opposition. He alleged that this move aims to create supply shortages in Hungary and drive up fuel costs as elections approach.
The foreign minister also argued that halting the oil flow constitutes a violation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, asserting that it breaches Ukraine’s obligations to the European Union.
Hungary’s Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjártó, was recently seen speaking at the Russian Energy Week event in Moscow on October 15, 2025. (Photo by Ramil Sitdikov/Reuters)
The Druzhba pipeline has long been a key route for Russian oil deliveries to parts of Central Europe, including Hungary, even as much of the EU has moved to curb reliance on Russian energy following Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The European Commission in January adopted a legislative package to implement a previously agreed 90 billion-euro loan to Ukraine for 2026 and 2027, aimed at supporting the country’s budgetary and military needs, according to a press release.
The financial commitment, known as the “Ukraine Support Loan,” would be structured as a limited recourse loan, with roughly 60 billion euros allocated for military assistance and 30 billion designated for general budget support.
A general view of Hungarian oil company MOL’s Duna Refinery near Szazhalombatta, about 30 kilometers south of Budapest, on May 5, 2022. (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images)
The Commission said the funding is intended to help Ukraine maintain essential state functions, bolster its defense capabilities and strengthen resilience as the war with Russia continues.
The loan would be financed through common EU borrowing on capital markets and guaranteed by the EU budget. The Commission also noted that the EU reserves the right to use immobilized Russian assets within the bloc, in accordance with EU and international law, to repay the loan.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday rejected what it called “ultimatums and blackmail” from the governments of Hungary and Slovakia over energy supplies, accusing both countries of taking actions that are “provocative, irresponsible, and threaten the energy security of the entire region.”
The Druzhba oil pipeline between Hungary and Russia at the MOL Group’s Danube Refinery in Szazhalombatta, Hungary, on May 18, 2022. (Bernadett Szabo/Reuters)
“Ukraine is in constant contact with representatives of the European Commission regarding the damage to Ukrainian energy infrastructure caused by daily Russian strikes. We have also provided information about the consequences of these Russian attacks on the Druzhba oil pipeline infrastructure to the governments of Hungary and Slovakia,” the ministry said in a statement. “Security and stabilization repair work continues amid daily threats of new missile attacks. Ukraine has also proposed alternative ways to resolve the issue of supplying non-Russian oil to these countries.”
It added that Ukraine remains a “reliable energy partner” to the European Union and argued that “ultimatums should be sent to the Kremlin, and certainly not to Kyiv.”