Slovakia and Hungary ask Croatia for Russian oil

Hungary and Slovakia have asked Croatia for help with Russian oil supplies after flows through Ukraine were interrupted. This was announced by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó after an attack on January 27 damaged the Druzhba oil pipeline on Ukrainian territory.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry published photos of the burning infrastructure, stating that Hungary had not publicly commented on the incident, as Russia was responsible. Szijjártó rejected Kiev's claims and accused Ukraine of not resuming transit for political reasons. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) made a similar statement on Sunday, and Moscow agreed with him.

According to Szijjártó, together with Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Saková (Hlas), they asked Croatia to allow Russian oil to be transported to Hungary and Slovakia via the Adria pipeline. He argued that an exemption from sanctions allows Russian oil to be imported by sea in the event of a disruption to pipeline supplies.

Croatian Economy Minister Ante Šušnjar said the country is ready to help resolve the disruption in supplies in accordance with European Union law and US regulations.

(reuters, max)