Hungary has issued a warning to veto a European Union financial aid package for Ukraine, valued at about 90 billion euros or approximately $106 billion, unless the flow of oil through the Druzhba pipeline is reinstated.
In a statement on Friday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced on the platform X that Hungary would resist the EU’s financial proposal until the Russian-affiliated Druzhba pipeline resumes its oil shipments.
Szijjártó accused Ukraine of leveraging its position by stopping oil transit in collaboration with Brussels and the Hungarian opposition, aiming to disrupt Hungary’s supply chain and drive up fuel costs ahead of elections.
He also argued that this interruption in oil flow contravenes the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and undermines Kyiv’s obligations to the European Union.
During a session of Russian Energy Week in Moscow on October 15, 2025, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó addressed these issues. (Source: Ramil Sitdikov/Reuters)
The Druzhba pipeline has historically been a vital channel for transporting Russian oil to Central European nations, including Hungary. This is despite the broader EU initiative to reduce dependency on Russian energy resources following Russia’s extensive invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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.”
