Brussels refused to support Hungary in the fight for Russian oil - ft

No EU country has sided with Budapest and Bratislava. Official Brussels, as the publication writes, takes time to assess the legal situation. The attempts of Budapest and Bratislava to involve the EU in their dispute with Ukraine have failed. The European Commission has slowed their request to urge Kiev to impose sanctions from Lukoil, which from Russia by the Druzhba pipeline transports oil to Hungary and Slovakia, Financial Times writes.

Hungary and Slovakia, who have been released from a pan -European ban on importing Russian oil after a full -scale invasion of Moscow into Ukraine, appealed to the European Commission, which is responsible for EU trade policy, with a request to start consultations on a trade agreement with Ukraine. However, the EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis stated that Brussels would take more time to collect evidence and evaluate the legal situation.

At the meeting of the trading representatives of the Member States, 11 countries were in support of his point of view, and none of them came to the side of Budapest and Bratislava, FT three diplomats reported. One of them stated that a trade agreement with Ukraine contains a security provision that could fail supply.

The choice of time for this call is especially ironic, notes FT, given that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has caused a deep annoyance of most of his EU partners in the last weeks, unilaterally lobbying a peaceful settlement plan in Ukraine during visits to Russia But China without Brussels approval. At the same time, Kyiv insists that the pipeline goes the same amount of oil as before, thanks to other Russian companies.

Russian oil is 35-40 percent of raw materials on a single Slovak refinery. Products made from this oil are also exported to Ukraine itself and the Czech Republic. Lukoil's deliveries that pass through Ukraine make up about 25-30 percent of oil imports to the country. It should be reminded that during a meeting in Brussels, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the EU countries could not agree to unlock the funds of the "European Peace Fund", where they finance the supply of weapons to Ukraine.