Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijártó said on Saturday that the European Commission's decision not to mediate in the dispute over the blockade of oil deliveries from Russia via Ukraine to his country indicates that Brussels is behind it.
Hungary and Slovakia have been protesting since Ukraine put Russian oil producer Lukoil on the sanctions list in June, preventing the company's oil from passing through Ukrainian territory to Slovakian and Hungarian refineries.
Sijart's claim, for which he provided no evidence, came a day after the European Commission rejected a request by Hungary and Slovakia to mediate between them and Ukraine over the sanctions.
"The fact that the European Commission has stated that it is not willing to help secure the energy supply of Hungary and Slovakia suggests that the order was sent from Brussels to Kiev to cause challenges and problems in the energy supply of Hungary and Slovakia," Szijarto said at the conservative political festival.
A spokesman for the European Commission declined to comment on Sjart's statement.
The European Commission, which has been supporting Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022, has repeatedly called on EU countries to stop depending on energy supplies from Russia. The EU has imposed sanctions on most Russian oil imports.
On Friday, a spokesman for the European Commission said there was no indication that Ukraine sanctions had threatened Europe's energy supply, as Russian oil continued to flow through the separate Druzhba pipeline, which also links Russia to Slovakia and Hungary via Ukraine.
Slovakia and Hungary, although EU members, have opposed military aid from Western allies to Ukraine, which is fighting Russian aggression launched in February 2022.
The southern branch of the gas pipeline passes through Ukraine to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary and has served as the primary source of supply to their refineries for years.
Last month, Sijarto made similar comments when he accused the European Commission of blackmail in the oil dispute and said it may be "Brussels, not Kiev, who invented the whole thing".
A Hungarian government official said Thursday that the Hungarian oil company MOL is in the final stages of talks on establishing a scheme to secure crude oil flows from Russia.
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