Orbán proposes mission to Druzhba and admits difficulties over veto

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has proposed sending an investigative mission to the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba oil pipeline so that experts from Hungary and Slovakia can assess the damage caused by the Russian attack and examine the possibilities for resuming oil supplies, Euronews reports.

In a letter to European Council President António Costa he also acknowledged the ‘political difficulties’ caused by his veto of a €90bn loan to Ukraine. However, he claims that his initiative is intended to help resolve the dispute quickly.

Tensions between Budapest and Kyiv have escalated after the interruption of supplies via Druzhba, which Hungary describes as an energy emergency. Orbán has meanwhile accused Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Brussels of allegedly trying to influence the Hungarian elections.

The European Commission is pushing for urgent repairs to the pipeline but Zelenskyy says the work cannot proceed so quickly. An alternative is the Adria pipeline but Budapest rejects the higher costs associated with using non-Russian oil.

(pir)