February 21, 2026, 6:41 p.mFebruary 21, 2026, 6:41 p.m
After Hungary, Slovakia is now also increasing pressure on Ukraine to allow Russian oil deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline again. If oil transit to Slovakia is not resumed on Monday, he will ask the state grid operator SEPS to stop emergency power supplies to Ukraine, said Prime Minister Robert Fico, according to a government statement, as reported by the CTK news agency.
The Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico.Image: keystone
The Druzhba pipeline delivers oil from Russia via Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia. According to Ukrainian information, it has been interrupted by Russian bombings since the end of January. Hungary and Slovakia accuse the Ukrainian leadership of deliberately preventing deliveries from resuming.
Both countries’ oil supplies are largely dependent on the pipeline. From a Ukrainian perspective, the purchase of gas and oil from Russia by the two EU countries contributes to financing the Russian war of aggression.
Hungary threatens to block huge Ukraine loan
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban had already indicated a few days ago that his country could hinder the electricity supply to neighboring Ukraine if Kiev continued to interfere with Hungary’s supplies. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto also announced on Friday that his country would block the EU’s 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine until oil transit to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline resumes.
Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary.Image: keystone
Orban has expressed the view that Ukraine is interested in him losing parliamentary elections scheduled for April 12. That’s why Kiev wants to ensure that heating costs in Hungary rise by blocking the Druzhba pipeline.
The left-wing nationalist Slovakian Prime Minister Fico has also said in the past that Ukraine is blocking oil deliveries to his country for political reasons. Now he wrote that electricity deliveries from Slovakia to Ukraine in January alone were twice as high as in the whole of last year. He accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of behaving maliciously towards Bratislava. (dab/sda/dpa)