Budapest has received guarantees from the EU that if something happens with the Druzhba pipeline, via which the landlocked country obtains about 60% of its crude from Russia, any shortfall will be replaced. That’s according to Balazs Orban, the prime minister’s political director, who was speaking on Tuesday.
Since Russia launched its military offensive in Ukraine in late February, the EU has imposed harsh sanctions against Moscow. The sixth package includes a partial ban on Russian oil.
Some EU members, such as Hungary and Bulgaria, will be given a waiver, but most import routes will be blocked. The decision, which provides a temporary exemption in respect of pipeline oil but targets sea deliveries, will affect around 75% of the bloc’s Russian crude supplies. However, the EU has apparently not ruled out some further emergency exemptions for Hungary.
“In recent days, the Ukrainian side has made several threatening statements that something could happen to the Druzhba oil pipeline – if it did, it would have caused a serious supply problem for Hungary, so the guarantee was agreed upon,” Orban told Inforadio.