Hungary and Slovakia have turned to Croatia for help in supplying Russian oil after the interruption of deliveries via Ukraine, which prompted an exchange of sharp accusations between Kiev and the two countries.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry last week blamed a Russian attack on its own oil pipeline in Ukraine for the suspension of deliveries to Eastern Europe, which have been halted since January 27, Reuters reports.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha posted a photo of firefighters and, as he stated, the burning infrastructure of the Druzhba oil pipeline on the X network, accusing Hungary of not publicly commenting on the incident for two weeks because its ally, Russia, was responsible for it.
Hungary responded quickly, accusing Ukraine of cutting off power to that section of the pipeline.
Croatian aid
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced on the Iks network on Monday that Hungary and Slovakia have asked Croatia to allow the transport of Russian oil via the Adria oil pipeline.
"We ask Croatia to enable the transport of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia via the Adria oil pipeline, as our exemptions from sanctions allow the import of Russian oil by sea if pipeline deliveries are interrupted," Szijjártó wrote.
"The security of a country's energy supply should never be an ideological issue. That is why we expect Croatia, unlike Ukraine, not to jeopardize the security of oil supply to Hungary and Slovakia for political reasons."
Croatian Economy Minister Ante Šušnjar hinted that Croatia could meet Hungary's request.
"Croatia will not allow fuel supplies in Central Europe to be jeopardized. We are ready to help resolve this acute disruption," he said, adding that cooperation would be in line with EU legislation and regulations of the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
The Adria oil pipeline connects the Croatian port of Omišalj with refineries in Croatia, as well as with other refineries in southern and central Europe.
Hungary and Slovakia have exemptions from EU sanctions on Russian oil transported by pipeline. Both countries rely on Russian oil and gas and have resisted EU efforts to cut off those supplies as part of an effort to deny Russia energy revenues that finance its war in Ukraine, according to Reuters.
A European Commission spokesperson confirmed on Monday that the EU is in close contact with Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia, and that deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline have been suspended since January 27th.
Rubio - Orban meeting
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has maintained close ties with Moscow since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while also building relations with former US President Donald Trump.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Orban in Budapest on Monday, after visiting Slovakia on Sunday, where he also discussed energy issues with Prime Minister Robert Fico.
The Kremlin said on Monday it agreed with Fico, who accused Ukraine of delaying the restart of the Druzhba oil pipeline in order to pressure Hungary to drop its opposition to Ukraine's possible future membership in the EU, Reuters reports.
Russia's Druzhba pipeline was under pressure even before the alleged incident in January, due to Ukrainian drone attacks on parts of the pipeline inside Russia.
Russian oil deliveries through the southern branch of the pipeline fell last year to a ten-year low of 9,7 million metric tons, with Slovakia receiving 4,9 million and Hungary about 4,35 million tons, according to data from Ukrainian consultancy ExPro.
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