European Commission backs Hungarian PM's initiative for monitoring mission on Druzhba pipeline
The European Commission has said it welcomes Hungary's intention to send a monitoring mission to Ukraine to assess the condition of the Druzhba oil pipeline and its readiness to accept the mission's conclusions.
The European Commission welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's plan to dispatch a mission to inspect the Druzhba pipeline.
"Prime Minister Orbán expressed Hungary's support to the idea of such a fact-finding mission to verify the status of the damaged pipeline and his readiness to accept the findings of such a mission. We consider this a welcome step," European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said.
She added that they now needed to take the next steps to see how and in what form this fact-finding mission would take place.
"We are now in contact with the Ukrainian authorities on this matter and continue to work with our member states to ensure security of supply. And meanwhile, we expect all EU leaders to honor their commitments made at the EUCOL," Itkonen added.
Itkonen reiterated that "it is important to recall that it was a Russian attack on an oil pumping station of the Drusba pipeline on the 27th of January that caused the damage. This has led to the interruption of oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia, and we strongly condemn these Russian attacks on Ukrainian and European energy security".
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spoke by phone with his Slovak counterpart and announced that the two countries will set up a joint investigative commission to examine the condition of the Druzhba pipeline.
Politico reported on 27 February that Orbán may have another condition for unblocking the EU's €90 billion loan to Ukraine, beyond the restart of the Druzhba pipeline.
The day before, in a letter to European Council President António Costa, Hungary's prime minister hinted that he may step back in his blocking of the loan.
Orbán wrote an open letter to Zelenskyy on 26 February in which he accused him of acting against Hungary's interests.