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Hungary is threatening to block a proposed 90 billion euro EU loan to Ukraine – worth about $106 billion – unless oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline are restored.
Hungary will protest against the EU funding package unless oil transit through the Russian-linked Druzhba pipeline resumes, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote on Twitter on Friday.
Szijjarto said, “Ukraine, in coordination with Brussels and the Hungarian opposition, is blackmailing Hungary by blocking oil transit in order to cause supply disruptions and raise fuel prices before the elections.”
He further claimed that blocking oil transit is a violation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and a violation of Kyiv’s commitments to the EU.
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Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto speaks during a session of Russian Energy Week in Moscow, Russia on October 15, 2025. (Ramil Siddikov/Reuters)
The Druzhba pipeline has long been a key route for Russian oil deliveries to parts of Central Europe, including Hungary, even as much of the EU has moved to reduce dependence on Russian energy following Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to a press release, in January the European Commission adopted a legislative package to implement a previously agreed 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine for 2026 and 2027, aimed at supporting the country’s budgetary and military needs.
The financial commitment, known as the “Ukraine Aid Loan”, will be structured as a limited recourse loan, with approximately 60 billion euros allocated for military assistance and 30 billion euros designated for general budget support.
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A general view of Hungarian oil company MOL’s Duna refinery near Szalombatta, about 30 kilometers south of Budapest, on May 5, 2022. (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images)
The Commission said the funding is intended to help Ukraine maintain essential state functions, enhance its defense capabilities and strengthen its resilience should the war with Russia continue.
The loan will be financed through common EU borrowing on the capital market and guaranteed by the EU budget. The Commission also noted that the EU reserves the right to use Russian assets frozen within the bloc, in accordance with EU and international law, to repay the EU debt.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday rejected “ultimatums and blackmail” from the governments of Hungary and Slovakia over energy supplies, accusing both countries of taking “provocative, irresponsible and threatening actions that threaten the energy security of the entire region.”
The Druzhba oil pipeline between Hungary and Russia at MOL Group’s Danube refinery in Szalombta, Hungary, on May 18, 2022. (Bernadette Szabo/Reuters)
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“Ukraine is in constant contact with representatives of the European Commission regarding the damage caused to Ukrainian energy infrastructure by daily Russian attacks. We have also provided information to the governments of Hungary and Slovakia about the consequences of these Russian attacks on the Druzhba oil pipeline infrastructure,” the ministry said in a statement. “Security and stabilization repair work continues amid daily threats of new missile attacks. Ukraine has also proposed alternative ways to resolve the issue of non-Russian oil supplies to these countries.”
It states that Ukraine remains a “reliable energy partner” for the EU and argues that “an ultimatum should be sent to the Kremlin, and certainly not to Kiev.”
