Slovakia and Hungary outraged over Ukraine halting oil deliveries

Oil deliveries to the EU through Ukraine by the Russian company Lukoil have been halted following Kyiv’s decision to place the company on its sanctions list last week, leading to harsh criticism from neighboring Slovakia and Hungary, which are already dealing with an uptick in gasoline prices, writes ‘The European Conservative’. Both countries have been aiding Ukraine through diesel shipments, but now are facing an immediate “fuel crisis” in return.

Robert Fico, Slovakia’s sovereigntist prime minister who survived an assassination attempt in May, spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal on Saturday, July 20th, telling him that Bratislava will not be “a hostage of Ukrainian-Russian relations.” According to the PM’s office, Fico tried to explain to Shmyhal that the inclusion of Lukoil on the sanctions list is just another example of senseless sanctions that do not hurt the Russian Federation but mainly some [EU] member state, which is unacceptable.

With Lukoil deliveries stopped, the Slovak Slovnaft refinery is missing 40% of the oil it would usually process, the Slovak government said, warning Kyiv that this would not only affect the domestic market but may also jeopardize Slovakia’s ability to continue its diesel deliveries to Ukraine, which have been pledged to help the war effort.

Hungary, another major consumer of Lukoil, which provides around 35% of the country’s entire oil supply, reacted similarly. Kyiv’s decision “is both incomprehensible and unacceptable,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Friday. He added that even though temporary solutions have been implemented to stabilize Hungary’s oil supply, these measures will not suffice in the medium term and could lead to a full-blown “fuel crisis” in the near future.

Szijjártó revealed that he also contacted the Ukrainian authorities and asked for an immediate reversal of the decision that poses a serious threat to the long-term energy security of Slovakia and Hungary. Initially, Kyiv showed “willingness to rectify the situation,” the FM said, but its “efforts have stalled along the line.”

Furthermore, the problem has implications for the entire EU through Ukraine’s ongoing membership process. Budapest is coordinating its steps with Bratislava to raise the issue during the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council later on Monday in Brussels. As Szijjártó stressed,

It is strange that a country aspiring to join the European Union is seriously endangering the energy supply of two EU member states.

Moreover, Hungary—just like Slovakia—has been helping Ukraine in various ways to maintain its energy supply during the war despite its own “difficult circumstances,” Szijjártó added.

Kyiv can enforce its sanctions as Lukoil has been transporting oil to Slovakia and Hungary through the Druzhba pipeline (meaning ‘Friendship,’ ironically), which goes through western Ukraine and also supplies Croatia and Czechia, two more EU countries affected by the fallout.

According to the European Network of Operators, Ukraine has not received electricity from Slovakia and Romania since 00:00 on July 23—apparently, a response to the blocking of LUKOIL oil transit to Hungary and Slovakia.

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